Deep Roots
by Syroc
Summary: The yondaime didn't seal the Kyuubi away unseen, and there are always those who seek to profit from destruction. And the power of a Jinchuuriki, well, it's just too much to pass up. This is dead, but the fic has been adopted by the auther Echo Uchiha.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

The brief, desperate battle had gone badly, and what little hope there had been before that had died along with those who had set out to stop the destruction. The beast ravaged the village, its people, and the very land with its simple presence. Those who stood against it were annihilated before they could put up any kind of resistance, and those who fled did so at their own risk.

But somewhere amidst the ruined village, the Yondaime readied himself for what he knew would be the last chance at any kind of victory.

"You can't do this, we need you!" Someone protested. "We have to run, and hope it doesn't follow!"

The protestor was much older than his younger counter-part, and his previous duties had taken its toll on his body. There were some scars, but they were mostly hidden by the many wrinkles he had acquired over the years.

"We've already lost too much to run. What would we do afterwards, anyway? Take refuge in a different village? Die as our enemies seize the chance to destroy us at last?" The Yondaime shook his head dismissively. "No, I have to do this. At least this way, we have a chance."

"But, why does it have to be you?" The protestor continued. "Let me do this thing, Minato! I'm old! I'm going to die soon anyway!"

The Yondaime smiled, and donned the last part of his armour.

"I'm sorry, but only I can do what I have in mind."

"But-"

The old man was silenced as the Yondaime delivered a blow to the man's head, knocking him out instantly.

A third watcher, with long white hair and what could charitably be called strange attire, shifted uneasily at this.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked, folding his arms.

"Yes, Jiraiya. Enough time has been wasted. We have to go now."

"Fine, I'll summon 'Bunta, you concentrate on the seals." He sighed sadly. "Kushina's going to kill me when she finds out what I let you do. And I don't think I'd blame her."

* * *

It was later, and the carnage had stopped.

The sleeping child had been returned to his mother, who was still sleeping due to fatigue. They looked peaceful, but Jiraiya knew that that would last only as long as they continued slumbering.

The seal on the child's stomach was still fresh, the skin around it an angry red from its application. The form of the newborn child was looked impossibly innocent, and that made Jiraiya feel even worse for what he had had part in.

But it had to be done, even Kushina would see that with time. He sighed, and turned to leave.

"I am so sorry," He said, and sighed.

He vanished from Konoha, too ashamed to stay in the place he had failed for a second time.

* * *

Amid the ruins, the survivors thanked whatever divine spirit had seen fit to preserve them. All across the broken village, happiness at survival was prevalent, which would soon be tempered by mourning for the lost.

But there are some people who, when faced with their survival in the midst of utter destruction, think not of the safety of their friends and family or of what they have lost, but instead think to themselves the terrible words that are the death of all things noble.

_How can I profit from this?_

Danzo, the founder of the 'Root' section of ANBU, was one of those people. He looked at the chaos and destruction done to his home, and thoughts of the possibilities opened wide to embrace him. He didn't see casualties, he saw possibilities. He didn't see the destruction of his home, but the ruin of his enemies.

"Imagine if we could harness this power." He thought to himself, and because he was one of the people who put such thoughts into action quickly, he began formulating a plan.

Earlier, in the midst of all the devastation, when everything seemed to have been at its bleakest, Danzo had seen something remarkable and, above all else, highly suspicious.

He had seen that idealistic fool, the Yondaime, and his bumbling sensei ride on the back of Gamabunta into the heart of battle, to face the demon.

Wondering what the current hokage was up to, he quickly had a team of Root members follow at a safe distance and take note of everything that happened. What they reported shocked him to the core, while at the same time putting the aforementioned thought into his brain.

The Kyuubi, sealed into a child? A Jinchuuriki for Konoha, it seemed, but he knew how things would work out.

The council would have to choose a new hokage, and the obvious choice would be for one of the remaining sannin to take on the role. Tsunade, however, was nowhere to be found, and his subordinates had reported that Jiraiya was fleeing Konoha. And with Orochimaru having gone rogue just a few years ago, all of the sannin were gone. That would narrow the choices down to the previous Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and himself. And faced with the choice of a proven candidate over a cripple, Danzo knew what the decision would be.

And knowing what that bleeding-heart-bastard Sarutobi would decide in regards to what could be the greatest weapons Konoha had ever seen since the senju clan, well...

The thought did not bear consideration. He would have to act quickly if he wanted any hope of salvaging anything from this tragedy.

"Assemble a team within the hour." He commanded one of his subordinates. "Search the maternity ward of the hospital, a newborn baby will have to be found." He thought for a moment, then added. "One with blonde hair, and from a family of little importance for preference. Steal the child, then reassemble at the Whirlpool embassy."

His nameless subordinates nodded, and vanished into the gloom of night. He knew they could be trusted to carry out his orders with the utmost efficiency. They would also, no doubt, know that failure was not an option. If what he was planning was planning was discovered, well...

The council would no doubt have him arrested for this. They were governed by their silly and frivolous emotions, and would no doubt see this valuable resource destroyed before it could be put into use.

He could not allow emotions or morals to cloud his judgement, not now. Between the two extremes of the Council and Sarutobi, his path was the most sensible. They would think him a monster if they found out, but he knew better.

This was for the greater good of Konoha, after all.

* * *

The sleeping mother never woke. The anti-coagulation technique the medical ninja had applied combined with the ruinous damaged he had inflicted on her womb ensured that she bled to death long before she ever had a chance to regain consciousness.

The child, still sleeping soundly as the seal applied to its belly took its toll, was quickly smuggled away from the embassy to Root headquarters.

A second child, a girl, had a copy of the seal quickly inscribed onto her own stomach before the masked assassin holding her forced as much chakra as they could into her fragile chakra coils.

In theory, the child should have experienced only a moment of excruciating agony as her chakra coils ruptured and poisoned her body, bursting her heart, stomach, lungs, and rendering her brain to mush.

It would be impossible to verify that right now, though. The child now showed all the signs of complete chakra overload. Provided that people believed what they saw, nobody would think to perform a paternity test on the tiny body. The only things that remained to do was deposit the child near the other corpse, and corrupt all documents that might pertain that the children they had stolen had ever existed.

They worked throughout the night, but as the morning sun rose over the thick canopy of trees, nobody would know what had happened.

* * *

Danzo inspected the seal on the child's belly with a critical eye, perplexed by the complexity of it and at the same time fascinated by it. It was indeed a shame that the Yondaime had died, if this was what the young prodigy had produced on such a short notice. It was easily the most confusing riddle of seal-mastery he had ever seen. Compared the seals normal ninjas used, this was completely eldritch.

A shame, but Danzo was convinced that the loss of the young seal master could be recouped when the jinchuuriki he had created was fully trained. The child would become the greatest weapon of Konoha, their unseen guardian.

The crippled man smiled widely as he handed the child away to a young woman, who would feed it.

Naruto Uzumaki, the team who had kidnapped him reported the child's name to have been. Well, that wouldn't do. Names entailed an identity, something he afforded only a select few of his underlings. For now, the child would remain nameless until such a time that one was required.

As he had predicted, Sarutobi had been duly sworn back in as the hokage of Konoha only a few hours ago. Not long after, the bodies of Kushina Uzumaki and her 'daughter' had been found. The feeling in the village was one of public mourning, as they discovered that their beloved Minato Namikaze had sacrificed both himself and his newborn 'daughter' to save them. It was a black day,

The last of both the Uzumaki and the Namikaze died last night, among many others. The old monkey declared today to be a holiday to celebrate their fallen heroes, the Yondaime and his nameless daughter.

It was funny, in a way, how easily the plan had succeeded. Somewhere out there a couple mourned the loss of their daughter, but his agents had made certain that there would be no way to trace their child's demise either to him or the body that was tearfully buried alongside its 'mother' and 'father'. The people of Konoha seemed eager to believe in the tragedy, really. It was strange, but he was satisfied so long as his hand in the matter remained unseen.

It would take years before his investment would pay off, but he knew that the trainers and scholars in his employ could be relied upon to produce only the best of results.

Yes, time would prove that his decision was the most efficient, the most logical.

"_And then Sarutobi__ can choke on his compassion."_ He thought to himself.

Danzo glared one last time at the documents concerning the child's origins, before he brushed them away. His aide would remove them for him alter that day, filing them away in the secret archives they kept on all of their operatives.

* * *

Months drifted by as the child grew, passed from one wet-nurse to another before anyone could gain any kind of strong feelings for one another. When the child was old enough to live on solids, the whole matter was abruptly abandoned as the child began his education.

There were no shinobi arts taught to him, not yet. To do so would foolishly risk the child, after all. No, he was taught to speak, read and write. His teachers all wore faceless masks, and only a select few were chosen to have any kind of contact with the child without one. Danzo, of course, was one such person. He wanted the child to readily recognize him for the rest of his life, and to mark himself as a unique individual among so many nondescripts who, for all intents and purposes, were simply talking mannequins.

His tutors reported to him that the child showed little patience for studying a few months into his education. He would grow restless without stimulation, and would eventually attempt to talk to his teachers. Danzo himself had watched one such session, and frowned in annoyance whenever the child attempted to derail their lessons to other matters. A common question would crop up, though.

"Who am I?"

Danzo despaired of the child. Ever since one of his tutors had told him that everything and every person had a name, the child had wanted to know his. And 'you' or 'child' or 'you stupid little brat!' were hardly names that would stick in this particular nursery. Something more tangible would have to given to him.

With growing annoyance, he dredged up the documents salvaged from the raid he had staged so long ago on the Whirlpool embassy, and inspected them once more.

Uzumaki Naruto. Not much of a name, he had to admit. But it would do, he supposed. With some slight modifications, of course.

His surname would have to be a fabrication, of course. With his father all but martyred, it wouldn't take much for the child to eventually find out who his wife had been, and from there the child may make some strange leaps of logic.

Something else would have to do, maybe even something that would subtly remind the child of where his true loyalties should lie. It should remind him constantly of what he was a part of.

He paused for a moment as he processed the last thought. And then he had it.

With a wry smile, he knew what his newest soldier's family would be.

Fukaine.

And with his smile quickly withering, he decided that there was no point in changing the real name of the child. A small token of respect for his father, who had bestowed upon the village its greatest weapon.

Fukaine Naruto.

He decided to tell the child himself, to make certain the boy knew where his loyalties should lie.

* * *

The room they were keeping Naruto was sparse even by Danzo's standards, but he highly approved. He wanted his youngest inductee to focus completely on what he or his teachers had to tell him. No distractions from what was important.

He limped into the room as dignified as he could; without his aide, walking was much more troublesome. His cane did precious little for him, but the hidden seals inscribed along its length that would transform it into a radiant blade of chakra more than compensated for the otherwise useless walking aid.

The young blonde sat on the ground, cross-legged, with a book in his hands. The masked teacher also with him stood to leave, but Danzo motioned for him to stay.

Naruto studied him, already taking on some of the mannerisms of his tutors. But there was a slight grin as he obviously tried to reign in a laugh.

Danzo frowned. He supposed he couldn't fault the child, as he was only two. But he would not suffer the child to be so impertinent.

The cane in his hand whirled just above the child's head, instantly freezing him where he sat with his eyes wide with sudden fear.

"I am Danzo." The Root commander stated, glaring down at the child with his single eye. "While you reside with us, I will be your commander. And even when you leave, I will never be far."

That was a lie, but it was important that he instilled as much respect and an almost parental image of himself in the blonde's mind.

He leaned down closer to the child, bringing their faces closer. As he did so he activated a subtle genjutsu that would focus the child's senses on him. For a brief moment, Danzo was the center of the child's world. The blue eyes were trained on him to the degree that when the Root agent behind him squatted down to the child's level, they didn't even flicker.

Danzo smiled slowly, radiating a calm confidence.

"I have been told that you have asked about your name. Is this true?"

The child was stunned for a moment, and too fearful to speak. But eventually the spirit that had yet to be crushed won out, and he opened his mouth to answer.

"Yes." Came the simple reply.

Danzo was pleased at the lack of elaboration. It, along with the other mannerisms, were indicative that the conditioning was taking effect. He nodded in acknowledgment, then straightened himself with a slight groan.

"You are Fukaine Naruto." He said purposefully, pausing momentarily as the child repeated the name to himself while the agent behind him stiffened in discomfort. Like all the others, they had been conditioned that names were _never_ to be revealed.

"Fukaine Naruto..." The blonde quietly echoed. The blue eyes watched him uncertainly, but Danzo could see gratitude behind the scrutiny. "Is that right?"

The Root operative behind him was clearly becoming uncomfortable with the talk of names, so the elder gestured that he leave. The news would spread among his other peers, though. It would no doubt foster resentment among the younger members, but that would not survive long.

"Yes." Danzo confirmed, his smile widening. He bent low to pick up one of the books the tutor had left behind, and carefully sat himself on the ground in front of Naruto. "Since your teacher has left, I will continue your education.

Young Naruto beamed happily, eager to hear what Danzo had to say.

* * *

Fukaine Naruto was a quick study once he realized his place in their organisation. He may not be an integral part of it yet, but some day he would be. To that end, he would learn what his elders thought he should know, fight the way they wanted him to, live the way they did.

He didn't even notice what he was giving up, not really. He face dulled, lost its vibrancy. It became so expressionless that his tutors began reporting that they needn't award the boy a mask, as the only thing his face revealed was that he was human. Despite this, when the boy was six he received the mask that would from then on become his 'face'.

Like all the men and women under Danzo's command, the mask was more symbolic than anything else. Anything that might distinguish one from another outside of the physical had long since been drained away.

But unlike the other members of Root and its parent organisation, ANBU, it wasn't an animal. Danzo feared that if it became known that a child of Naruto's age was a part of his faction, Sarutobi would begin inquiries. Officially, Root wasn't supposed to exist.

So Naruto's mask was left featureless, a simple oval with eye-holes and slits for air and sound to pass through. He stood out, of course, but Naruto had not yet been revealed to anyone outside of Root yet.

The tattoo that was standard among all of ANBU was also out of the question. This child, once released, would be the trump card Danzo would need to usurp Sarutobi when the time was ripe. Such a mark would be entirely too obvious.

But even without the staples of his training it was becoming harder to hide the child from ANBU. They were cracking down on many of the old meeting places and training halls. The simple logistics of keeping a hideout for the child to live in and a steady stream of trainers would eventually give them away, if they weren't careful. So far, his agents had managed to avoid discovery simply by using their numbers. It was hard to track so many people long enough for a pattern to emerge, after all.

The elder smiled as he watched his youngest protégé fight against another of his age. He felt something akin to pride well in his chest as he watched the two spar, each learning from the other and in turn improving. And through them, the strength of Konoha grew. He smirked as Naruto unleashed a genjutsu against his opponent that caught him by surprise. Prohibited by the rules their instructors had laid, of course, but the reasoning Naruto offered was faultless.

"There are no rules in battle." He stated, his voice devoid of any passion, before anyone could berate him. "Only success and failure."

Danzo applauded the young blonde's victory, and everyone present looked up in surprise. It was rare for him to show any favour for any of his operatives.

"Well fought and spoken, shinobi." The old man congratulated.

"Danzo-sama." Everyone, excepting the boy currently trapped in genjutsu, said as they dropped into a kneeling position.

"It is well that you consider battle to be free of restrictions, Naruto." Danzo commended. "This will serve you well in the future. But you are not truly fighting, are you?"

The young shinobi hesitated for a moment before answering in the negative. The white oval mask was riveted on him, Danzo knew, and would not move unless he did.

"Then what is the purpose of these training sessions?" Danzo demanded, his voice suddenly harsh. As he spoke, the young boy still suffering from the genjutsu collapsed to the ground.

Naruto was silent this time, his confusion apparent.

"You are here to _learn_, boy!" Came the harsh answer. "You are to improve your taijutsu! You defeat the point of this exercise with these antics."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

Danzo nodded, satisfied that his criticism was suitably absorbed, and turned to leave. There was another matter that needed his attention, concerning the Uch-

He was not prepared for what came next.

"But should I not learn how to integrate taijutsu with my other ninja arts?" Naruto asked, in what Danzo could almost disbelievingly call a rebellious tone. "Why should I hobble myself needlessly by training one style at a time, when it would be much more beneficial to train all at once?"

Danzo whipped his head around to glare venomously at the young blonde. The instructors all stared at him as well, no doubt wondering if they had actually heard what had been spoken.

"_Because I told you to!_" Danzo answered coldly, before continuing on his way. "And for the love of god, get that kid some treatment."

* * *

It was later, that same day. The sun had fallen bellow the canopy, but the sky was still painted a violent red.

Deep inside one of the hideouts his subordinates had established, Danzo was getting ready to sleep. Amazing, really, that he could manage it after what he had ordered only a few hours earlier. His stern features held no guilt, no remorse. He would do it again, if he had the choice.

But really, had there ever been a choice? Traitors deserved nothing less.

Despite himself, Danzo was impressed. He would never have thought that Homura and Koharu had it in them to make the correct decision. He had suspected that they would support their old team mate in his decision, and that it would be up to him once more to do what was necessary. But they had united against Sarutobi alongside him, and together they had forced the hokage's hand.

But that had only been the first shock of the day, it seemed.

Despite their support, Danzo had still suspected the old pair of betraying him somehow, and so he had chosen someone he _thought_ would refuse. The young man had been summoned, and then given his orders. Danzo himself had retired shortly after that to assemble several teams to make doubly certain of this mission.

But Uchiha Itachi had followed his orders with admirable efficiency, he had to admit. He knew that his own operatives could perform such acts, but to find such willingness _outside_ of his influence...

Well, it was surprising.

After all, it took special kind of ninja to kill every member of their family on command.

All in all, it had been a satisfying day. There was nothing like the execution of traitors to end the day on a good note.

But beyond the hidden Root office, at the Uchiha Compound, there was a survivor.

Sasuke Uchiha lay in a heap, contained in the terrible genjutsu his brother had trapped him in. Again and again he saw the foul acts perpetrated, every member of his family butchered like animals.

All to measure Itachi's strength. For such a meaningless reason, everything was destroyed. There was no sense to it.

Alone in the forest he had chased his brother through, it was hours before he was finally found by ANBU and escorted to the hospital.

It would be the cause of a headache for Danzo later, though.

And the release of his greatest weapon, Naruto.

* * *

**  
A/N**: Yeah, this is my second endeavour into the Naruto-fiction section, and hopefully this time I'll be able to keep it going. So, be helpful in reviews and I may have the motivation to keep this thing going, ne?

And because I can all but hear people opening up a second browser tab to open up their favourite online translation sites, so I might as well save you all the trouble. Fukaine is a contraction of the Japanese words fukai (**deep**, profound, thick, close) and ne (**root**). Yes, it's that simple.

Yes, I know that the translation is rather vague, but you know what? The closest the dictionary _I_ was using could come to the meaning I was hoping for was yuuyuutaru. And I am not putting that anywhere near my mouth, as the prostitute said. There were a few other words, but fukai was the closest after yu- that silly word.

And since I went out of my way already with names, I figured I might as well rest my head by simply using honorifics instead of trying to form conversations in such a way that would convey the same meaning.

Also: No, Naruto will not be super-powered. He _will_ be taught by some of the best members of Root, though. And while that won't make bring him to *shudder* SUPER SAIYIN 4 LEVEL, he'll at least be one scary demon-child. And I have... Plans... for Naruto's conditioning in any case.

The inspiration for this story stemmed mostly from the strange habit for people to portray Danzo as an irredeemable bastard. I mean, yes, he is. But you gotta bear in mind that he's a bastard _for Konoha_. I mean, most of his portrayal in the manga depicts him as opposing Sarutobi and Tsunade for being too 'soft'. He'll fade away, while still being a part of things, but he mostly takes the spotlight here to establish his character: Unpleasant, but a man with a plan.

Also, I apologize to anyone who read the sloppy first edition of this chapter. I dunno how I missed so many errors. Hopefully I've gotten the rest.

And on a finishing note: pineapples have no business on pizza, you horrible deviants.

That is all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

"Damn that fool!" Danzo hissed as he read a report from one of his teams. "We ordered him to kill _all_ of them! What part of 'all' didn't he understand?!"

He knew that such seething was pointless and counter-productive, but he couldn't help himself at the moment. His orders had been _disobeyed_! Someone had _flouted_ his will, as well as that of the council, and deliberately gone out of their way to do so. Why trap Sasuke in a genjutsu, even one as terrible as the one described in the report, when simply cutting him down was so much more efficient? Why bother?

And then to go rogue? Obviously, Danzo had erred in trusting the withered remains of Team Tobirama. He'd had his teams ready to execute them all, why hadn't he given the order? Because he'd been drunk off of the victory of forcing Sarutobi into a corner. Maybe that had been part of his plan, that devious old monkey. Lure him into a false sense of security, and sneak a survivor through a massacre.

And with the village in an uproar at the almost-complete annihilation of the Uchiha, he could hardly dispatch a team to take care of loose ends. They'd be discovered by the end of the day, and that would be the end of him.

But the boy was an unknown quantity. Danzo didn't know if the boy had been privy to his father's machinations or not, or of the general character of the child. Would the torture he endured render the boy so deranged that he would one day repeat his brother's crime, without the council's sanction?

Damn Uchiha Itachi!

He threw the report away in disgust, before recomposing himself.

Sarutobi would sink his fingers into Sasuke as soon as he could, and any attempt Danzo made either to eliminate or recruit the young boy would likely result in even greater efforts to destroy Root.

For now, the last of the Uchiha was beyond his grasp.

He began pondering how he could reverse the situation. None of the ANBU in his employ could get near the boy, as Sarutobi would be watching the him like a hawk. One of the trainees would be able to get close, perhaps. They were still young, and would be able to proceed with less scrutiny. Also, the Uchiha was currently enrolled at the ninja academy, and the murder of this family was likely to spur the boy's efforts to become a powerful shinobi. The boy would likely attend his ninja studies religiously.

Danzo paused as another thought came to him.

So long as he remained loyal, all was well. Konoha would profit from keeping the Sharingan in its arsenal, and in due time there may even be a chance to rebuild the clan. With less of a traitorous sentiment, of course.

Under those circumstances, Sasuke was a benefit to Konoha, and merited protection from other enemies. No doubt other villages would try to either destroy the bloodline once and for all, or capture it for their own use. Until he proved otherwise, Sasuke Uchiha was a boon to Konoha.

Sasuke being powerful wasn't necessarily a _bad_ thing. A traitorous Sasuke _was_, though. For now, he simply needed monitoring. Someone who would not be noticed, or cause too much of a stir. Someone who could potentially nullify the risk of betrayal should the matter arise, as well.

But no ANBU... One of the trainees would have to do. And with them being not wholly conditioned, they'd be harder to trace back to him.

He began drawing up a list of candidates, before he realized it wouldn't be needed. He already knew who to choose for this mission.

* * *

"Fukaine Naruto."

"Danzo-sama."

Danzo studied the young blond, confident that he was yet again making the correct decision. Naruto, who learned at a voracious pace, who had the chakra capacities of a strong chuunin, and who could eventually, Danzo was sure, tap into the demonic potential within him. In terms of raw potential, Naruto was the best choice.

First of all, he was almost the same age as Sasuke. This would increase the chances of the two starting in the same class at the academy, once the new semester started. Second, Naruto had already been stripped of much of his emotions, so his judgment was unlikely to waver while under the parameters of his mission. And lastly, Naruto's power was sufficient that Sasuke could be quickly and cleanly executed should he turn traitorous. For now, that is.

But Danzo had no doubt that Naruto's skills would easily keep pace with those of Sasuke. After all, Naruto had spent the whole of his life being trained by assassins.

It was a pity that he would be woefully inept at his secondary mission, but that could be remedied in time.

"Remove your mask." Danzo ordered.

Naruto promptly obeyed, untying the straps and then secreting it away amongst his clothes. The blue eyes studied him impassively, obviously uncomfortable with having to unmask. It was one of the downsides of the conditioning, but Danzo was convinced that the advantages were too numerous to compare. He was pleased with Naruto.

Danzo nodded in satisfaction, and continued.

"Today, you will begin a mission." He began, his voice cool and calm. If it had been possible for Naruto to show any kind of emotion, Danzo was sure the boy would be grinning in anticipation. As it was, though, he merely listened with rapt attention. "It will likely take years to accomplish, and you will have little to no contact with us for long periods of time. It would endanger the mission and our well being should you be discovered as one of us."

Naruto took this in instantly, and impatiently waited for more details. It was obvious that he was eager for his first real mission. A solo one, at that. Danzo smiled inwardly, pleased that he had trained such a useful tool.

"You are to monitor a boy named Uchiha Sasuke. His family was recently killed, and I have concerns about his loyalty."

"Am I to eliminate him?" The emotionless face of Naruto asked, not even hesitating for a moment.

"Not yet." Danzo answered stiffly, a little annoyed to be interrupted. "As I said, you are to monitor him. So long as he remains loyal to Konoha, you are his guardian, and defend him from all danger. Should he betray us, our vengeance must be swift."

Danzo paused, allowing the blond to digest his orders, before he continued.

"A secondary objective, to be engaged at your discretion, is to persuade the Uchiha to join our organization. This objective is not to be engaged in lightly. Above all else, you are not to reveal your connection to us unless preceded by the most dire of situations. Do you understand you mission?"

"Yes, Danzo-sama." Naruto bowed as he said this.

"The clothing and gear we have provided you cannot leave these walls. Anything that may lead to your discovery is a danger to your mission. We will provide you with the initial means for you to purchase new clothing, a home and whatever furniture you deem necessary." Danzo paused for effect, as the next part was important.

"Do not waste these resources. After that, you will receive a monthly 'stipend' from us. This is also not to be wasted, as whatever funds you do not use will be siphoned back to us. If possible, find a way to finance yourself, so that we may sever yet another link to us."

Naruto nodded in affirmation, and Danzo continued the briefing.

"You are not to reveal the true extent of your skill to anyone except in an emergency; such an event would inevitably lead to discovery and failure of the mission. Exhibit only enough skill to remain in the class of Uchiha Sasuke."

Danzo leaned forward, his single eye boring into Naruto fiercely. He wanted the next detail stick in the child's mind.

"You are not to befriend your classmates, as prolonged exposure may uncover your conditioning. Make them hate you, if you must."

Naruto nodded, but frowned as a thought struck him.

"How am I to enroll into the ninja academy? I thought one needed a voucher, but only my peers-"

Danzo cut him off with a gesture.

"I will personally present you to the hokage. To everyone outside of our organization, you are an orphan. You were discharged from our three ranks years ago, when we were supposedly disbanded. Unable to keep you with us, we returned you to the streets. You survived, alone, in this period until you decided that you wished to complete your training as a shinobi, and attempted to blackmail me into aiding you. That was five days ago.

"Understood, Danzo-sama. When do I begin?"

Danzo merely pushed forward a box that contained set of clothing, a wallet, notes detailing the specifics of the three years spent outside of Root, and a pair of second-hand kunai.

"Now."

* * *

Naruto felt very alone in the alien place that was his own village, but he was not much bothered by it. He was often alone for long periods of time, and the other trainees were hardly what you could call company. To be fair, neither was he.

He also wasn't bothered by the magnitude of his mission, either. Danzo would not have chosen him for this task if did not feel he could succeed, after all. Failure was sure to be a possibility, of course, but so long as he was careful it should not be too much of a worry. His training was very efficient, and he was confident that he could deal with anything the village might be able to do to him.

No, what bothered him was all the noise of the market district. Having grown up among a black ops section of ANBU, where conversation was limited to conveying information and discussing mission or training details, noise had never been much of a problem.

Here, he was all but deafened by the hundreds, no, _thousands_ of voices. It affected him in ways he didn't expect it to. To his amazement, he found himself fighting the urge to shout these people into silence, despite the obvious flaws in logic this would present.

The number of people here was also an issue. Unused to being so surrounded, Naruto constantly felt the need to flee to a more secure location. He was exposed amongst the crowds, unable to consider the threats each individual he passed before they vanished into the sea of faces. It would be easy for an enemy of Root to kidnap him from here, he realized.

He found himself growing impatient, and a bit anxious to leave.

His first objective was to find clothing. He reasoned that this should come first because while he was doing this, he could inquire as to if there were any open residences in the area. But after his initial inquiries were met by varying degrees of failure, from the humble "Can't say that I do" to the outlandish "Get outta my face, brat", Naruto decided that difficulty presented by the task warranted a change in priorities.

Naruto was not used these surroundings, and as it dawned on him that he was hopelessly inadequate for this task, he resolved to take his quest to a different locale.

He would not admit it to himself, but the hustle and bustle of the market district had greatly unnerved him. Obviously, he would have to investigate a less densely populated area.

Preferably far away.

As the midday drew on, Naruto found himself in a poorer district of the village, and began feeling much more comfortable. The lower amount of people allowed him to focus more on his surroundings without distractions, and the infernal noise had long since been left behind. The uncomfortable reactions he'd felt earlier were beginning to fade as well, and his calm mask of a face slid back in place.

The dirty streets and heaps of refuse provided plenty of places for him to hide equipment should the need arise and the narrow streets and alleys would allow him to easily lose anyone attempting to trace his movements. Another advantage was that many buildings seemed to be completely uninhabited, instead boarded off or otherwise sealed. With some effort, he could perhaps reclaim one such building for his own use. Danzo _had_ told him to find a method of funding himself, after all.

With such benefits before him, Naruto resolved that this district would be perfect for his purposes. A quick investigation at one of the local shops revealed that there was an opening in one of the residential buildings nearby, though the owner seemed confused as to why such a young child would _want_ to live here. Naruto, however, was perplexed as to why anybody would _not_ want to.

An hour later, Fukaine Naruto possessed a key to a modest top-floor apartment with a nigh-negligible rent.

Feeling more confident with his success, Naruto decided to once more attempt his quest for clothing, this time closer to his new 'home'.

This proved difficult, however.

Firstly, there were no shops that provided what remotely looked like clothing that could be used for shinobi purposes in this district. No armored vests, no mesh-fiber garments, not even a decent pair of gauntlets! Naruto almost despaired of his choice of homes, before he recalled his mission briefing.

His Root gear had been confiscated to avoid discovery. Logically, this would mean that he was not meant to be outfitted with true shinobi gear. By that token, he was forbidden to betray his knowledge of the necessity of such things.

This epiphany struck him in the middle of his search through the third clothing shop he had come to, and it gave him cause to stop in the middle of his investigation.

Logically, he would have to select clothing based on its _impracticality_ to a shinobi. If it appeared that he was ignorant of the ways of a ninja, he was much less likely to be exposed. Following another parameter of his mission, these items would have to be cheap.

He righted himself slowly, aware that the shop owner was watching him warily, and gave the shop a second sweep of his eyes.

And then he saw them. It was as if the heavens themselves had heard his wordless hopes, and answered them in the form of a carelessly strewn box.

Fukaine Naruto slowly approached, suddenly doubting his good fortune. As he drew closer, the owner's eyes widened in disbelief, and then in shock.

In a corner of the shop, heralded by a sign with the word 'discount section', was a box full of bright orange garments. Naruto was perplexed by them, as never before had he ever seen anyone wear this particular color before. If he wore them, _nobody_ would deduce that he was a trained ninja. Many would indeed be inclined to wonder if he was of a feeble mind.

Pulling one of the garments from the box, Naruto was pleased to discover that the item was a jumpsuit, yet another plus. The time needed to don the apparel comfortably would further allude suspicions, and the heat it generated would make him sweat! Plentiful pockets that might get snagged on branches or wire and chaff against him if he tried to use them, as well!

A quick rummage through the box revealed that it was wholly filled with these items, ensuring that if he did purchase them, he'd be able to rotate them so that he never need wear anything else.

It was perfect! Not in all of his five-minute speculation had he ever pictured such a vision of uselessness! Nobody would even _think_ he was ninja in this attire!

Naruto turned to find the shop-keeper standing next to him, staring down at him as if suspecting the boy was up to something. Unperturbed, Naruto help up the orange jumpsuit for scrutiny.

"How much for all of these?" He asked in a serious voice.

Silence greeted him as the owner, a woman, merely gaped at him. Naruto waited patiently for a moment, before repeating his question.

"Are you colour-blind?" She asked in disbelief.

"No?" His answer came out with a note of uncertainty. What did the condition of his eyes have to do with the purchase? "Are these items not for sale?" He speculated warily, not sure what was expected of him.

The woman gawped, before stepping back a bit.

"And you're _sure_ that's what you want?"

"Yes?" More uncertainty. He was beginning to wonder if perhaps he had done something wrong.

"Well..." The woman weighed him up, before she suddenly seemed to realize something. Her expression relaxed visibly, and her expression changed to that of a knowing smile. "Are you looking for really cheap clothing? Do you not have much money?"

Naruto knew this was not the case, technically, but he was not to spend money frivolously.

"Yes." He answered, a bit nervously.

The woman apparently mistook his anxiety for embarrassment, and nodded to herself with a smile. Muttering something along the lines of 'such a shame, so young', she bent down to his height and smiled pityingly at him.

"Well, little man, I haven't been able to sell any of those since I got them a year ago, and they've just been collecting dust since then. Why don't you do me a favor, and just take all of them, hmm?"

Naruto was almost taken aback by the fortuitous turn of events. He felt something on his face twitch, and was shocked to find that the corners of his mouth had raised themselves slightly without his knowledge. Quickly, he reigned himself in and offered his profuse thanks to shopkeeper.

The laughing woman helped him carry the box out of the store, and watched him leave with a wide smile on her face. She waved him off, as he set off to complete the next part of his mission.

Danzo would be so pleased with him.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was prepared to give the boy the benefit of the doubt if only because he had to have a legendary self-esteem if the orange jumpsuit was anything to go by.

But it was difficult to do so with Danzo standing right next him, a hand placed upon his shoulder. The hokage fought with the reflex to instantly distrust anyone the old war hawk had any associations with, but it wasn't easy. The hard-eyed blond with the placid expression that he had seen many times before among the senior members of Root was not very faith-inspiring, no matter how many tiny quirks the boy let slip.

But he also had difficulty believing that Danzo would ever willingly let someone wear _that_ shade of orange anywhere near his schemes. And given the odd expression he was wearing, Danzo was obviously wondering exactly why he was vouching for the boy.

Sarutobi sighed, and sank deeper into his seat.

"Let me get this straight: You expect me to believe that you actually released Fukaine Naruto,_ and don't think for a second I didn't catch that_," Sarutobi found it necessary to stress this. It was one thing to try to trick him, quite another to believe him a fool. "From your services when I ordered your section disbanded?"

Danzo nodded, and the boy simply stared in open fascination.

"Yes, indeed." Danzo answered. "And yes, we did name him. The calamity that struck our village years ago left many orphans. Most of those we found were nameless. My organization made an effort to salvage a few from the wreckage the beast left. When you ordered my section to disband, I discharged him, along with many others, from our ranks. He showed talent, but not nearly enough that I could place him into the ANBU trainee program."

Sarutobi smiled wryly, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it. Both knew that Danzo would disobey any order Sarutobi gave, provided he believed that Konoha would ultimately benefit from it. (In fact, he often wondered why he didn't have Danzo executed other than the hassle it would bring, and eventually decided that while he was an insubordinate bastard when it came to people he didn't like, he was loyal to Konoha through and through.) But he couldn't call Danzo out on it, not when he had no proof. And with the village still reeling from the Uchiha massacre, he couldn't afford to trace the origins of some random orphan Danzo had picked up.

But...

The story _did_ have an air of plausibility. Even if Danzo was keeping Root alive, which Sarutobi highly suspected, then he would have had to cut loose anybody who might not be able to keep its existence a secret, and that would certainly include the vast majority of his trainees. Only those with the most potential would be worth the risk of exposure.

But why would Danzo be trying to get a reject form his program into the ninja academy? Or, and Sarutobi narrowed his eyes calculatingly as the thought drifted into his mind, why would he want one of his strongest trainees to leave his influence?

As if answering the hokage's unspoken question, Danzo coughed, and looked ashamed.

"He approached one of my old operatives in the hope that he might be able to continue his training not long ago. He has, erm," Danzo looked away as he spoke the next sentence. "_Misapplied_ much of the knowledge and techniques we taught him when he learned that we could no longer support him. He said he would make himself a nuisance if we did not aid him."

At this the hokage perked up greatly, suddenly amused.

"Wait, you mean you released a _thief_ into the general populace, with no means to survive for himself? And then he _blackmailed_ you?" He asked with a smirk on his lips.

No answer was forthcoming, though the boy was now studying the floor with the rapt attention that could only belong to someone who was _really_ hoping not to have to answer.

Sarutobi laughed openly, feeling happier than he had for a long time. Danzo being bitten on the ass by one of his own trainees was a sight seldom seen, and was to be thoroughly enjoyed once witnessed. Even if it was a lie, it was one he _wanted_ to believe.

Danzo glowered at the hokage, his face contorting into a sneer.

"Are you finished?" He demanded, annoyance flaring. "I would like to be done with this so I can return to my duties. _Someone_ has to take control of this damned situation."

The dangerous tone in his voice was a sure tell of exactly which situation Danzo was thinking of. The last of the Uchihas. Of course Danzo would want Sasuke dead, and Itachi as well for having gone 'rogue'. Sarutobi was glad he had shown trust in the young shinobi, knowing full well what Danzo would have arranged in his stead. This way was better, even if it was still tainted.

Sarutobi's smile vanished as the guilt of what he had had a hand in came back to him. If only...

But those were thoughts for a different time.

"I assure you, the situation is under my complete control." The hokage countered, noting Danzo's slight glare. "I understand that Sasuke woke up this afternoon. He has been speaking to the ANBU about what happened to his family."

He looked pointedly at little Fukaine Naruto, who by now was listening to the two men talk once more.

"But we have gotten off track." Sarutobi commented, and studied Naruto closely.

It was obvious that the boy still carried with him the Root conditioning. But it was incomplete, which was both good and bad. On one hand, it meant he would have a chance to recover from the damage Danzo had done to him, and maybe have something resembling a normal life. But on the other, there was a very real risk that he could be letting a socially-retarded killer into the academy.

"While he certainly was not talented enough to become a member of ANBU, his skills are not to be ignored." Danzo continued, all traces of his previous discomfort vanished. "I and a few of my associates felt it that it would serve no purpose to let his skills go to waste."

Sarutobi nodded slowly, taking this in.

It was plausible, like any other good lie. But Sarutobi had a suspicion that Danzo would have a would-be blackmailer killed before they could finish the sentence.

Naruto was watching impassively, his blue eyes focused completely on Sarutobi. A byproduct of Danzo's conditioning, obviously. A pity that so many of Konoha's youth had suffered before Root's official training program had been stopped. So many boys and girls forever scarred by what had been taken from them.

But what of _this_ child?

If Danzo wasn't lying, and he refused the child admittance to the academy, Naruto would undoubtedly return to the streets to continue trying to ecce out an existence. Would probably die senselessly, hating his own village.

And if he was? Well, in that case the chances were strong that Naruto was simply a trainee being forced into a mission before his training and conditioning was complete, and if refused admittance would only return to Danzo's program to have the rest of his identity stripped.

So, in other words, there was no real up side to refusing Danzo other than the pleasure it would bring to spite him. And it did not make the old ninja happy to know this.

But Saurtobi's smile slowly returned. He had a plan.

Once the boy was in the academy, he was out of Danzo's hands. Lying or not, Naruto would become a shinobi of Konoha and not a soulless tool of Root.

It would be a small victory, he knew, but he could satisfy himself with that for now.

"Very well." The hokage agreed. "I will instruct the academy to add Fukaine Naruto to their rosters. I'm sure he'll learn a great deal from his teachers."

* * *

As the sun was swallowed by the horizon, and the little sounds of the day were silenced by the falling night, Naruto found himself back in his apartment. He was hungry, but he ignored it for now. He would remedy this in the morning, right now he needed rest.

Naruto slept on the old, worn couch that the previous tenant had left behind in his new home. It was uncomfortable, and he had had trouble at finding sleep at first, but once he finally managed it his slumber was deep.

It had been a busy day for the young shinobi, the start of a new life in a new world. While he had enjoyed the previous one, he inexplicably found himself looking forward to what was to come.

His mission, his new instructors, the many obstacles he would overcome.

Fukaine Naruto slept deeply, and dreamed about the things that might come to pass.

And when he woke the next morning, he was ready to meet anything the village of Konoha might throw his way.

* * *

**A\N**: I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter, or instantly fav'd the story, or put it on alert. It was much appreciated. Hopefully the trend will continue! (nudge)

I think I'm going to try and keep a weekly schedule, as well. Was plenty of time, for this chapter. We'll see how things work out, ne?

For chapter III, we'll have Naruto's introduction to ninja school. And after that, we'll prolly start along the same time-line of canon, but not strictly so. There will be deviations, obviously, and hopefully you will all like them. Cuz otherwise you won't, and that would suck.

Also: I own Naruto. In a truly infinite universe, anyway. because in a truly infinite universe, anything is possible! So somewhere out there in that vast cosmos is a carbon copy of me, smugly smirking at my accomplishment and sleeping on a mattress of money.

Some day, I'll hijack a space-ship, track me down and then kick my ass. It'll be awesome.

(For ye of feeble sarcasm-sense: I don't own Naruto. I only wish I did.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

Fukaine Naruto's day was not going well. He wallowed in his own failure as the class continued its snail-like pace, going over the theory of various academy techniques. Many of the students were attentively listening to and noting the words of Umino Iruka, the teacher that was assigned to teaching them.

Naruto was not one of them. Like the others trained by Root, he'd been taught these skills as soon as he was capable. Instead, he buried his face in his arms, slumping forward in his seat to feign sleep. Nobody commented.

Naruto found himself remembering his first day of school, so long ago. Or so it seemed, anyways. Hours upon hours of tedium had done strange things to his sense of time. (Naruto was secretly prepared to swear to Danzo himself that the instructors had devised a genjutsu that lured its victims into thinking that time was moving slower than it should.)

The day had started out so well. He'd arrived, and Iruka had introduced him as a new student. There was no mention of his assumed past, so Naruto did not offer any details either as he greeted the class. The others had noted his presence, and a few tittered or commented on his strange attire, but the majority seemed content to ignore him.

He'd sat himself down in an empty spot, and then patiently waited for the lesson to begin. They were being taught history. Naruto hadn't found this minutely interesting or contributive to his goal, and so he instead began studying his other classmates. He was going to be with most of them until they graduated in five years, so he felt it was best to observe them now, before the Uchiha returned from his stay at the hospital.

He'd cast a subtle clone technique on himself to make it appear as if he was still watching Iruka as he craned his neck to study the other children.

A few minutes later, his trick was revealed when he was called on to answer a question, only for him to answer reflexively while the clone made no movements at all. Iruka had glared at the boy, before dispelling the illusion and revealing the boy staring face-to-face with one of the girls behind him.

The girl, a green-eyed blonde who he later learned to be named Ino, was so surprised that she smashed a fist into his face while shouting 'pervert!'. The boy flew backwards in a long arc, and landed on his back. Naruto, with his head swimming, had acted reflexively. His hand flashed to his side and appeared again with a worn kunai.

Any further confrontation was cut short as Iruka shouted at the boy and forced him to stand out in the hall, while the rest of the class laughed at him. With his cheeks inexplicably hot, Naruto had hastily obeyed.

As soon as he was out of the classroom, where he could collect his thoughts, he realized he was feeling something he had never felt before.

When the other children had laughed at him, his insides had turned both hot and cold, his blood rushed, and now he was thinking unpleasant thoughts.

For the first time, Naruto was getting annoyed.

It hadn't happened before, as his previous teachers had shown inhuman patience themselves, and had cultivated it in him as well. Nothing before this had come close to embarrassing him. Indeed, the very notion of embarrassment was slowly yielding its terrifying secrets to him.

An hour later, the boy was allowed to rejoin the class for taijutsu training. He'd duly watched the instructors as they went through the basic taijutsu forms and attacks, and noted that the majority of the class seemed bored. Apparently, these lessons were nothing new.

When they were then ordered to spar against one another, the second mistake of the day was made. Unsure of his opponent's skill and remembering his orders, Naruto decided to err on the side of caution.

And he was glad he did, as well.

The attacks his opponent used were enough to make Naruto blush in embarrassment on the child's behalf. Slow, sloppy and devoid of any killing intent. If Naruto was allowed, he would have broken his sparring partner. The boy was even sporting a smug smile on his face as Naruto moved to block with exaggerated slowness. He then allowed his opponent to catch his midriff with a solid kick, and then bit through his own lip so he could shout in pain accurately.

The teachers 'intervened' on his behalf, allowing him to sit the rest of the taijutsu class on his own.

The other children laughed at him.

For the second time that day, Naruto was annoyed.

He didn't like the way things were going.

But what else was he supposed to do? He couldn't make the other children like him, he was forbidden from such. He couldn't show them his true skill either, he was forbidden from that as well.

Wait...

He was forbidden from letting them know his true skill. So long as he was never caught, he would not fail his mission.

To Naruto, his blood pulsing and his devious mind full of unpleasantness, this was all the justification he needed to find a way to spread the joy of his newest discovery.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba, riding high on his crushing victory, couldn't stop the wide grin on his face from spreading even if he had wanted to.

After the little stunt the new kid had pulled in the classroom, Kiba had thought the kid would show a little more skill. But that suspicion had died when the boy hit the floor and shot him a glare that only the defeated could give.

He strutted like a cock from the sparring ground to rejoin his friends. He was already starting to gloat when he approached his friends.

And then he suddenly woke up, staring up at the sky and agony in his skull.

He was alone, but he could hear the others. Wondering just what had happened, Kiba pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to the class.

When he arrived, everyone had just stared at him. And then laughed uproariously.

Bewildered, Kiba had retreated to the bathroom to see what they were laughing at. Standing in front of a mirror, he soon saw why.

A badly drawn mustache on his lips, inky bags under eyes and a swirl on his chin had somehow made their way onto his face. He spent the next ten minutes trying to wash it out, cursing under his breath the whole time. When he found whoever had done this...

Nobody had seen exactly what had happened, but they all agreed he looked ridiculous.

* * *

Naruto had experienced a myriad of foreign sensations.

His assault had been laughably easy. He'd made a clone, and then performed a dynamic transformation to camouflage himself. Anybody who knew what to look for could see him, but to everyone else he was merely a shifting outline of the scenery, and dismissed as a trick of the light. He created a second clone just as he delivered a solid blow to the back of his target's head, then displaced them both away.

And then he proceeded to ravage the boy's face.

He'd decided against physical abuse, as that might have wakened the boy. He'd also decided against theft, as if discovered would cause problems. His other options depleted, Naruto did the only thing left to him.

This minor revenge felt superior to both of others, however.

He felt pride in his accomplishment, and something else... It was new, like the others. But while they made him feel bad, or uncomfortable, this one was...

It made him feel good. Unwillingly, he found the corners of his lips curling upwards into a wild grin.

He couldn't wait to try it again.

* * *

That had all been earlier, though. Months earlier.

The tricks and pranks had only increased in frequency as Naruto realized that his teachers had nothing new to offer him, and that his peers were mostly weak or foolish. They were no threats either to him or his objective, but neither would they provide much aid to him. As his frustration at the situation grew, Naruto began pursuing... Hobbies.

Storeowners woke to find that their wares switched with each other during the night, monuments were defaced, and various other harmless but annoying traps had been scattered across the village.

They hadn't worked out who the culprit was, but Naruto was wondering if he should let them. If he was revealed as the culprit of these acts he would forever remain an outcast. Which would help his mission, of course. All he would have to do after that would ensure that he never let too much skill show. That would endanger the mission.

Absently, Naruto shot a glare laced with killing-intent at Uchiha Sasuke. It was too little to arouse suspicion, hardly enough to even be sensed, but every time he did it, the boy twitched ever so slightly. And each time he did, Naruto grinned.

He didn't do it out of sadism, but instead out of intense annoyance.

There was just something about Uchiha Sasuke that rankled Naruto. He wasn't sure what it was. The effortless stoicism, the dismissive arrogance or even the intense drive that Naruto found both fascinating and annoyingly predictable.

If any of the other students showed even the hint of challenge to him, Sasuke took it upon himself to establish his superiority. Naruto, forced to hide his skills, did not like having to subordinate himself to the Uchiha. But he also didn't like doing so for anybody else, either. So maybe that part wasn't exactly Sasuke's fault.

Naruto found himself wondering day by day if Danzo hadn't made an error in assigning him this task. He was certain that the... urges he felt, the need to surprise, to harass, to feel that strange feeling that was conjured inside him every time he pulled a prank, that it was all unnatural.

He'd caught himself laughing, once. It had caught him completely by surprise as he was watching one of his pranks strike an unsuspecting villager. He didn't get much time to speculate on the matter however, as he had to flee quickly afterward to avoid capture.

He was sure these feelings were unnatural. Nobody he'd met while training had exhibited any of these traits, and he was now afraid to mention them at all. He knew about puberty and what to expect from it, in a clinical sense, and he knew this was not it. At times he was terrified that he might be going insane.

What a strange sensation _that_ was! Before, he'd thought that fear was simply apprehension at a situation that could be conquered with effort. _Now_ he was discovering that it was a soul-crushing, mind-killing disease that welled in the dark corners of his own mind and cut deeper than any blade. It had no rationality. Worse, it had no mercy.

At times it had threatened to cripple him.

It, along with the other feeling, was one of the poles by which his new life now navigated. Fear that he would be discovered, happiness that he was not. Terror that Danzo would recall him, joy that he was allowed to continue the mission.

But mostly, he felt intense annoyance that he had to suffer through for the majority of the week.

Mostly he slept through the classes, putting himself under a hypnosis technique to ensure that none of the various sounds and voices the class generated would ever break his slumber. As soon as class was done, he'd resume observing the Uchiha as he trained to near-exhaustion, furthering whatever goals the boy had. Weeks had turned into months, and Naruto hated his mission if only because it now followed a strict routine.

He ignored the gnawing revelation that dared to utter that he too had once lived in such a way. He chalked it up as yet another sign of his growing insanity. He already had more than he could count.

He wished that Sasuke at the very least to the movies or something. Watching him practice his skills, as entertaining and educational as it might be at times, had become frustrating. After all, watching Sasuke train when he could not hardly seemed fair to the young blonde.

So, Naruto found himself exacting small vengeances upon the Uchiha. A twitch-inducing glare here, an inexplicable stumble there, they all helped prevent his unseen sentinel from failing his mission by reason of having beaten his objective senseless.

And now, with that small satisfaction Naruto felt that now was the best time to catch up on his sleep.

He slumped down onto his desk, using one arm as a pillow and pressing an index finger against his temple. It fed a small stream of chakra into his brain, initializing the hypnosis. The world became hazy and spun slightly as it took affect, and then he was gone from the classroom and safely tucked into his own dreams.

"NARUTO!" Someone shouted.

The young blonde in question violently awoke to find himself staring into the angry eyes of his teacher, Umino Iruka. He suffered a moment of confusion and disorientation as his mind recovered from the sudden jolt of wakefulness.

"Uh, wha?" He managed to say as he tried to garner his thoughts.

"Don't sleep in class!" He shouted, sending him glare. "It's not like your grades are good enough that you can, either!"

The other children laughed at his expense, but by now he was used to it.

"I haven't failed yet, have I?" He mumbled sleepily, stifling a yawn.

"You will at this rate!" The chuunin warned.

"Meh." Naruto muttered with a shrug, then slumped again. "Wake me when there's a test."

The young ninja heard angry muttering, then shuffling. He wondered briefly what was going on, but reasoned that it couldn't be that bad. Iruka wouldn't harm one of his own students.

Would he?

The silent question was quickly answered as Naruto felt something slam into his head with surprising force. The blow instantly woke him up, fully alert and ready to fight. A hand flashed down to his thigh and almost came up with a kunai before he stopped himself. Luckily, the others were too busy laughing to notice the nigh instantaneous reflexes.

He saw Iruka standing in front of the blackboard with a triumphant smirk on his face, arm still outstretched. Still dazed, Naruto looked down to see a piece of chalk gracing his desk.

"And _that_, children, is the proper throwing technique for small objects." Iruka calmly explained, carefully watching Naruto.

Still alert, but not lethally so, Naruto relaxed once more. Both hands drifted back to the desk, but this time he chose to remain awake. After all, if Iruka was teaching them how to turn everyday objects into deadly weapons, it would probably be worth his time to pay attention.

Sadly, however, this was _not_ what Iruka was teaching as Naruto discovered as the scarred man casually explained the various throwing styles and techniques. Naruto, having been schooled in close combat techniques, saw little merit in many of them, though some of the specialized styles that Iruka explained piqued his interest. After all, what was the point of carrying enough weapons to throw if the sole advantage of do so, namely the distance between the target and the attacker, could disappear with a hasty body-flicker technique?

But he paid attention, if only because he suspected that Iruka would devise some other way to draw his attention.

And yet another day dragged on for hours, while his bored mind made every minute last twice as long as it should. At long last, Iruka dismissed the class.

"Naruto, could you stay behind please?"

The boy hesitated for a moment. He couldn't leave Sasuke alone. What if someone took the chance to assassinate the heir? But he also couldn't arouse the suspicions of his teacher.

Naruto knew the extent of his skills, but he also knew that they were not yet those of a chuunin. If he had to, he might be able to kill the man. But doing so would surely result in failure of the mission.

Danzo would recall him after that, bring him back into the fold. And Naruto wasn't ready to return to his studies, not yet. There was still too much to learn.

Sasuke would just have to survive on his own for a while.

So it was that while the other children filed out of the classroom, Naruto remained in his chair, watching the chuunin impassively. Wondering what the man wanted.

Iruka sighed as he closed the classroom door behind the last of the students, and turned to Naruto with a kindly expression. He crossed the room and sat beside the boy, crouching a bit to remain at his level.

"Naruto, why are you here?" He asked plainly.

This elicited the boy in question to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Shouldn't it be obvious? Perhaps, and this thought made Naruto pause in fear, perhaps Iruka suspected ulterior motives. Maybe he had already discovered who the prankster of Konoha was, and now wondered how he had done such things unseen by so many?

Maybe...

But for now, a lie. To see what the man was expecting.

"To be a ninja." Naruto answered simply, carefully studying the man.

Umino Iruka was no fool. He was the head instructor of the ninja academy, and therefore a skilled ninja many of the ninja arts. He had seen Naruto's dossier, provided to him by the Hokage's office. That by itself told him that the boy was to be watched carefully, but what was inside confused him.

It said that he had received some training from a section of ANBU, but not which. It also stated that it was currently unknown exactly how _much_ training he had received, as the sources in this matter were unreliable. From this Iruka inferred that the boy had once been groomed to be a part of the black ops section, but he could not be certain. It was to be presumed that the boy would be well acquainted with the basic ninja skills.

All of this made the chuunin wonder if there hadn't been some mistake at the hokage tower.

Naruto was currently skimming along the failure margin, vaguely disliked by his classmates for his blatant lack of skill and his inability to learn. He slept through classes, he was regularly demolished in taijutsu training and the other teachers informed him that he when he _wasn't_ sleeping he seemed preoccupied.

But just occasionally, Iruka would notice something that made him wonder.

Earlier, for example, with the chalk.

Naruto had gone from a state of near sleep to combat readiness in an instant when he had been struck. And it had taken a shout to wake the boy, which shouldn't be possible if he could go from sleep to alert so quickly. Unless he had done something to himself to _make_ him sleep, that he had not been able to do before Iruka hit him.

There was also the trend for those who teased the boy excessively to be thoroughly pranked by some unseen assailant. They would always mysteriously disappear, or walk into a elaborate trap that nobody had seen created, or something in that general direction. Subconsciously the children were aware and resentful of this it seemed, which made them tease him worse. It was a vicious cycle that couldn't be broken.

And the boy was _weird_. He talked in a manner that was simple and precise, rarely betraying any emotion. His face often twitched into various expressions, as if he was unfamiliar with them and was attempting to recreate them. As if his unofficial position of class clown/pariah were not enough, the boy was also socially awkward. Painfully so.

The boy puzzled Iruka, which only made him watch him closer.

"But _why_ do you want to be a ninja?" He persisted. "Wouldn't it be much easier to maybe find a job in the village, maybe be an apprentice?"

Naruto, for his part, had no answer for this and knew it.

"I'm an orphan." He said, as if this explained it. "And... I _have_ to be a ninja. I just do."

The blonde watched as Iruka nodded slowly at the first, then narrowed his eyes in thought at the second.

"Do you mean you _want_ to be a ninja?" He asked speculatively. "Is it your dream?"

Naruto had heard about dreams before he'd been released into the public. He'd been having a lot of them lately as well. They were insane, nonsensical things that either left him horrified that his own mind had concocted such madness or, more often, vaguely satisfied at something he could not quite remember.

He doubted this was what Iruka meant, though.

"I want to be a ninja, yes." Naruto answered slowly. "But what are dreams?"

Iruka's mouth dropped a bit, uncertain as to how he should proceed.

"Well..." He started, but stopped. He had to think about his answer before he started again.

"Dreams are what someone hopes happen to them." He explained carefully. "Some people want to be rich, others want to have a family, or maybe be strong."

Naruto nodded in understanding.

"An ambition." He simplified, and Iruka cringed slightly at the emotionless tone the boy adopted.

He was just... _creepy_.

"Not..." Iruka hesitated slightly, unsure himself. "Not quite, Naruto. A dream is something someone is willing to do anything to accomplish."

He watched the boy carefully as he said this.

"I see." Was Naruto's answer.

The blonde thought about this. His mission was to watch and guard and, if necessary, kill the Uchiha. This relied on his eventual graduation from this academy. The mission was everything to him.

He would do anything to accomplish it. There was nothing he wouldn't do to _not_ fail.

"My dream is to become a ninja." He said slowly, tasting the words. Satisfied, he decided to embellish a bit. "To become the strongest ninja in the world!"

He tried to smile at the chuunin, but didn't quite manage it.

Iruka sighed, and laid a shoulder around the boy.

"How would you like to get some ramen with me?"

* * *

Naruto arrived the next day with a strange drive that frightened himself. And extremely satisfied.

He eaten himself to bloatation the day before, and arrived home so drowsy that he had simply collapsed onto his couch and slept until morning. He'd not even _thought_ about Sasuke after that sublime taste had touched his tongue.

When he had woken up, he promptly returned to the ramen stand for his breakfast and then bolted off to the academy. Once there hastily checked if Sasuke was still alive, and then duly paid attention as if in payment to Iruka for showing Naruto the wonders to be beheld in the culinary world. The day progressed slowly, but when the end finally came Naruto was the first out the door.

He then purchased enough Ramen to choke any number of donkeys.

But in his attention and eager flight he had missed something that otherwise might not have.

A pair of pale eyes watched him all that day, the face they belonged to wearing a faint smile.

"Naruto..." Hinata Hyuuga whispered softly to herself, tasting the name.

She would continue to watch him for a very long time.

* * *

**A/N**: I almost didn't manage to get this thing up in time! Hooray for me, ne? Hope you all like where things are goin'.

Again, I thank everyone leaving reviews, favorite'ing, and asking for alerts. They are all appreciated and motivating. For those who don't, well, enjoy anyway.

Next Chapter: Insert into canon, and shenanigans!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

If a tree falls and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?

This was one of the thoughtful questions that had cropped up throughout the ages in various forms, and made most normal people consider it for a moment. Ninjas, on the other hand, thought about it for all of five seconds before they laughed. If a tree fell where nobody was around to hear it, then who cares?

But, because there's always some silly person out there willing to do some tricky thinking, they also adapted it to a more practical question.

If someone stole something that someone didn't know they had, was it really stealing?

Naruto had pondered that particular question, and decided that it wasn't.

So when Mizuki delivered the tests to Iruka's office a day earlier than the chuunin had expected Naruto had no qualms about breaking in and stealing one.

He didn't do it because he _needed_ to. Even in the last semester of his education at the ninja academy, Naruto still managed to keep up with ease.

No, he wanted this test so that he wouldn't be blind-sided. Last semester Iruka had put a question about chakra control training into one of his tests, and Naruto had gotten halfway through it before he remembered that most academy students wouldn't be expected to know any more than the leaf training. Iruka had been giving him a funny look as he hastily erased his answer and evidence of his training.

Which was annoying. He knew it was wrong, but he hated being the weakest of the class. While they struggled to keep a leaf on their forehead he regularly stood upside down from branches to avoid detection as he kept up the surveillance of Uchiha Sasuke.

It had come as a quiet kind of realization to him a few years ago. Just because he wasn't practicing his fighting skills didn't mean he couldn't stop practicing his ninja skills. Quite the opposite, in fact. If he could get his skills of avoidance of detection to a high enough level, he would often be able to avoid fighting at all.

But, back on topic, he had stolen a copy of the test they were to receive tomorrow, and he was studying it with the intent of discovering what new stratagem the devious chuunin had come up with to discover the extent of his skill.

And was sorely disappointed to realize there wasn't one.

It had been one of the games he had played with the scarred man over the years. He would try to find out how well trained he was, and Naruto would try his best to not be discovered. Like cat and mouse, or fox and hound.

But to discover that Iruka had stopped made him sad.

A little disappointed but still wary, he committed the questions to memory and then thought on his answers.

And then he spent the rest of the day watching Sasuke unseen.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata, with her powerful bloodline, could see many things that others could not. She could see in almost any direction, she could see chakra coils and flow and she could see through walls.

She could also see Naruto watching Sasuke religiously. At first, she had wondered at this briefly, but decided that he was simply trying to learn from Sasuke without the other's knowledge. So she continued to watch her crush with interest. It was only after a full year of such behavior that she began to question this assumption. After all, even if he _was_ learning something she wasn't, he would have to practice sometime. But he never did.

And what he _did_ practice was somewhat bewildering.

At times he'd perform powerful genjutsu, and he would almost vanish under all the layers of chakra. She knew that to those without her bloodline he would be invisible, but she thought it a bit excessive for him to develop to simply watch someone.

She ignored a voice in the back of her mind that informed her that she was currently hiding behind a tree and trying not to breathe. Her stalking skills were certainly up to par!

He'd never practice combat techniques, at least not where she could see them. He had improved his chakra control, then his stealth, and then his body.

It was strange to see the boy move, these days. At least, when he was moving quickly. When the other children had need for haste, they simply tried to move their limbs faster. Naruto, on the other hand, used his chakra internally. It would act like an auxiliary muscle, augmenting his speed and strength whenever he needed it.

But all this made her wonder.

At first she'd been drawn to him because of his persistent desire to overcome, despite his lack of skills. She'd seen something in him, a drive that she'd desperately wanted for herself. But then she'd seen him do things that no child should have been able to do, feats that some genin would find difficult. Why then was he performance at the academy so abysmal? Did he fear that his talents would be discovered? And if so, why?

She'd resolved herself to discover, one day. He was bound to slip up sometime...

But mostly she wondered why he was so fixated on Uchiha Sasuke.

He'd monitor the Uchiha heir in any position it took, always careful to avoid being caught. Upside down, on walls, and at times even transforming himself into a girl so he could follow more openly. There seemed to be no lengths he wouldn't go to, no barrier he would not cross to keep an eye on Uchiha Sasuke.

And eventually, she came to an undeniable, irrefutable conclusion.

Fukaine Naruto had a crush on Sasuke Uchiha.

When realization had come to her, she had tried to deny it. Her crush couldn't like boys like that! He wouldn't like _her_ if he did! And so she'd tried to come up with a different theory.

Tried, and failed. Miserably.

Naruto liked boys. She had sobbed herself to sleep that night, and hadn't had the heart to look at him for weeks after that.

And then there had come a moment when her mind had wandered off for a moment in class, before her eyes roamed back to her blonde haired interest.

Thoughts came to her. Thoughts of him with other boys. Of him and other boys _and_ her.

She'd squeaked loudly, her cheeks bright red and a dazed look on her face. And her hands held tightly to her nose. Somehow, this made things even worse. The entire class had turned to see what had caused her to disturb the class in such a way. She hadn't trusted herself to talk at that point, but people were suspicious of the manic grin on her face.

After a few minutes of people staring with varying degrees of concern and confusion, she reigned herself in enough to ask if she could be excused for a moment.

Iruka, a worried look on his face, allowed her to but asked if she felt up to remaining with the class for the rest of the day. She nodded hastily as she exited, all but slamming the door behind her as she made her way to the bathrooms.

There, blushing furiously, she blew her nose to clear it of the blood she'd been trying frenziedly to keep from showing.

"Oh _Naruto-kun_!" She'd sighed.

More thoughts came to her, causing her to redden further and blow her nose once more.

"Kyaa~!"

That had been three years ago.

These days she didn't need to excuse herself anymore to have the thoughts.

* * *

Fukaine Naruto knew he was being watched.

Probably by an agent of the hokage to make sure he was up to no mischief, or maybe by Danzo to ensure that he had no issues with resolve. He fully understood the need for it whether it came from either source. He was _still_ somewhat of an enigma in regards to the former, and he hadn't even spoken to latter in almost five years. Both were entitled to be worried about him, if for different reasons.

But what he didn't understand was why they felt the need to let him know he was being watched.

He'd fully expected the higher echelons of the ninja hierarchy to be better at hiding their presence than this. And they'd _ have_ to be somewhat highly ranked, because no matter what he did, whatever trick he tried, he could not discover where his watcher was hiding. It was like trying to grasp smoke.

It annoyed him to no end. At least _he_ didn't let Sasuke know what was going on! There was such a thing as _pride_!

Not that he'd ever admit to having pride in his skill of hiding and watching people. It chafed at what little moral fiber he had left in him. If he had any. He hadn't had a chance to find any, yet.

He was indignant, damn it!

He was a highly trained and conditioned ninja, and he knew that if a skilled tracker let his presence be known, they _wanted_ it to be known. And if they wanted him to know he was being tracked, they wanted him to panic.

And, after months of trying in vain to discover his observer, Naruto was beginning to.

"What do they _want_?" He muttered to himself worriedly.

They didn't even stop when he was at the academy, and he found himself experiencing a kind of vengeance. If _he_ found the class skull-crushingly boring, then his watcher must be hard pressed not to die of boredom.

He took his seat, and waited for Iruka to arrive, so he could be done with the whole academy business at last.

This was his graduation test, the test he had stolen the day before. He was confident that he could pass at the barest minimum, thus ensuring that he would likely end up at the bottom of the rosters.

So long as Sasuke remained at the top, they would likely end up on the same team. And if they were on the same team, he could observe his teammate without causing too much concern if he _was_ discovered.

The third member would be of little consequence, so long as it wasn't one of the many girls who seemed to stalk Sasuke nearly as much as he did.

Wait. _They_ stalked him. _He_ observed.

He found that he had to put some kind of buffer between the two of them. Their strange, erratic behavior was something he fervently hoped to avoid. Doubly so the fanatic devotion they all seemed to possess.

Iruka arrived then followed closely by Mizuki, effectively killing all further speculation of his team formation.

Mizuki took a chair at the head of the class, and drew a book from somewhere on his person with a bored expression. Iruka on the other hand moved in front of the desk, surveying his students kindly. The scarred man was wearing a smile that almost seemed smug when it came to Naruto, while carrying a small stack of paper that was obviously surmised was today's test.

Strange... He'd been certain that the stack had been bigger yesterday.

"Naruto, could you come here for a moment?" The chuunin asked politely, earning a few snickers from the class.

Behind him, Mizuki raised an eyebrow.

Hesitantly he obeyed, arriving with a questioning look. When he did, Iruka bent down to Naruto's level.

"You do realize that I can count, don't you?" He whispered slyly.

Fukaine Naruto flushed, but did not answer.

Of course Iruka wouldn't use the same trick, he'd devise something new. And Naruto had walked right into it, exposing himself in the act. He glared at the chuunin angrily, but the scarred man merely grinned widely.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." He said in mitigation. "In the meantime, please hand out these tests."

He handed Naruto the stack of paper.

A stolen glance at the top confirmed Naruto's fears.

Iruka had had a second test ready.

Prosaically, Naruto gave a copy of the test to each of the students until only his own remained, whereupon he promptly returned to his seat. He slumped at his desk, worried at what the new test would bring. Everything was uncertain, now.

"Begin." Iruka commanded when he was certain that everyone was ready.

* * *

The written test hadn't gone well. Unsure how to answer most of the questions to continue his goal, he had decided to err on the side of safety. He deliberately left half of the questions unanswered, and the rest thoroughly enough to make Iruka pause.

With any luck, he would give a passing grade.

Next would be the practical examination. He had _thought_ that the test would be a simple displacement technique, but due to the recent changes he was now uncertain.

"Alright class, pencils down!" Iruka announced loudly, almost smiling at the groans some of the children let out. He wasn't a _mean_ person, but it was kind of funny. "Anybody who didn't do too well on the test can always make up for it in the next part." He added helpfully.

Naruto was glaring at him, and this time Iruka _did_ smile. He was hoping that the changes would force the boy to reveal more of his skill, so that he wouldn't end up at the bottom of the roster.

Sly as he was, Iruka hadn't considered that that had been exactly what Naruto wanted.

"The practical examination will be the basic transformation and clone techniques. When we call your name, please come to the head of the class and perform them as we tell you to."

Most of the class sighed in relief. They'd be hard-pressed to fail _this_ part of the exam, at least.

Naruto merely narrowed his eyes calculatingly.

_That's right, play the guessing game._ Iruka found himself thinking. _Try to find out what _I'm _hiding for once._

It was a fun turning of the tables, he had to admit. For years he'd been trying to find out what Fukaine Naruto was hiding, what skills he refused to reveal. Now he would be wondering what Iruka had in store, panicking just a little bit. Or maybe a lot. Who knew, really, with Naruto?

Names were called out, and one by one each of the students performed the techniques as Iruka and Mizuki dictated.

After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto was finally called up.

Warily, rose and walked over to the two teachers. Behind him a few titters erupted as well as a few derogatory mutters, but he ignored them for now. He could get them back alter, after all.

"Alright, first the transformation technique." Mizuki advised, then with a mischievous grin pointed to the man beside him. "Turn into Iruka."

Shooting the gray haired man a strange look, Naruto formed a seal.

A moment later the class was surprised to see a perfect copy of the scarred chuunin wearing Naruto's seemingly permanent expressionless face staring at them unblinkingly. Mizuki raised an eyebrow, not exactly expecting such an easy transformation.

"The expression is all wrong-" He began, but was silenced when Iruka cut in.

"That doesn't matter." He said quickly, before leaning in close to the other chuunin. "He can't quite grasp them, really."

Naruto was annoyed at this, and promptly let this show.

In his 'Iruka' guise, he slowly deliberately stuck a finger into his nose, and waggled it around daintily.

Most of the students erupted into incoherent giggling fits and laughter, causing the chuunin to blush furiously and shout them into silence. Even Mizuki was grinning at the spectacle.

Satisfied that the slight had been addressed, Naruto let the transformation collapse.

Iruka coughed into his hand, still embarrassed, and allowed Mizuki to continue with the exam.

"Alright, next make two clones."

At this Naruto hesitated. He knew he could do the technique flawlessly, had done so before as well. Iruka _knew_ he could do it. So why make it part of the exam?

There was some kind of trick somewhere, a hidden catch.

But was it worth failure? And what kind of failure?

If he failed the graduation test this year, he still had two more chances. It would merely be most advantageous to pass this one, but it didn't directly inhibit his mission. Or, wait, it did. Eventually Sasuke would be sent out of the village, where he couldn't watch if he was still in the academy.

But he couldn't reveal the extent of his skill, especially not in _this_ manner.

He was torn, conflicted. Surely Danzo hadn't expected something like this to happen? Not the sadistically inquisitive mind of one chuunin. Could he?

He _was_ the commander of an elite section of the ANBU, and a trusted advisor of the Konoha council.

The more he thought about it, the less sure he became.

"Anytime, Naruto." Mizuki commented idly.

Feeling the pressure, Naruto decided to err on the side of caution. Caution towards his 'family', the men and women who had raised him from birth.

He made the seal, and flooded the technique with chakra. The resulting clones were warped, strange things that promptly collapsed into a heap, their skin a strange shade of green and gray.

Both the chuunin merely raised an eyebrow at this.

"Naruto..." Iruka sighed with a disappointed look. "You _fail!_"

Mizuki frowned, and turned toward his friend.

"He _did_ create the clone, surely we can let him pass-"

But Iruka would have none of it, his expression imperious.

"No, we can't. If Naruto can't perform a technique as simple as this, then he would only be a liability to whatever team he was assigned. He might even get someone killed."

Naruto panicked as he realized that Iruka was serious, that he really _was_ going to fail.

"B, but what about the written test?" He protested.

"The practical exam was the deciding factor, Naruto!" Iruka erupted. "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to try again next year."

The blonde felt his mouth dry up, but he had resolved himself to this. He would sacrifice this for Danzo, for Root. He would fail his mission...

"_Unless_ you can show us something more impressive." Iruka said slyly, and suddenly Naruto knew the chuunin's game.

Of _course_ Iruka would know that he would try to skim across the border of failing. He'd done so for five years, he was hardly going to stop now. It hid his abilities, and ensured his safety. But now it had led him into this... this _trap_! It was too much!

He could pass, he could show them all that those brats behind him that they had been _wrong_, that all these years he had been playing with them. Even now, he could pass at the top of the class...

All he had to do was betray his comrades.

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, and frowned.

His conditioning returned to him, and he felt nothing.

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei." He said mournfully. "But I can't do that."

With a defeated look on his face, he returned to his seat.

He'd been a fool for even _considering_ betraying Danzo. He might enjoy living outside of the Root compounds, but he held no illusions as to what would happen if it seemed like he couldn't be trusted anymore. In the best scenario, he was merely incapacitated to the degree that he could _never_ reveal another of their secrets.

In the worst, he would simply disappear.

Disappointed, Iruka dismissed the class for the day. Naruto remained, crippled by one of the many emotions he was still unused to. His chest felt like something had constricted around it, his flesh felt cold and his eyes itched.

He was so absorbed in this sensation that he hardly even noticed when Mizuki sat down next to him, a comforting smile on his lips. He lay a companionable arm around the boy's shoulders, and pulled him close. Skilled though he was, Naruto had no chance to sense the subtle manipulation of chakra as the chuunin used the

"Hey, not to worry little guy." He said amiably, and Naruto felt the tightness in his chest lighten a bit. "There's always next year."

Naruto snuffled, and was unsure as to why this should be so. He wasn't sick, after all. Or maybe he was? Maybe someone had poisoned him...

"I, I needed to pass _this_ year, though." He blurted, and was suddenly baffled why he did so.

Mizuki's smile widened ever so slightly. Naruto didn't notice, and wouldn't have given it any notice even if he had.

"Well, there _is_ a way you can pass." He said conspiratorially. "There's a secret test that only a select few are told about."

Unbalanced as he was, Naruto believed him. He listened eagerly to the gray-haired chuunin as he explained how he could pass...

* * *

Naruto, fleeing the hokage tower with a massive scroll strapped to his back, couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to go along with this plan.

He'd had misgivings when Mizuki had told him that he would have to steal a scroll from the hokage's office. But, mysteriously, he'd never acted on them. He hadn't suspected the chuunin of manipulating him.

Which he now _knew_. Whatever the man had done, it had worn off. Naruto, with his head clear and a squad of jounin following him, became annoyed.

Someone had exploited his moment of weakness, planted madness in his mind.

His eyes narrowed.

Someone was going to _pay_ for what had been done to him.

Glancing over his shoulder, he was distressed to see a pair of masked ninjas gaining ground on him. ANBU. And not likely to be one of those under Danzo's command, either. They would likely kill him if they managed to catch him, thinking him a traitor to Konoha.

Suddenly, Danzo's mission was a secondary priority. Escaping with his life became his number one objective.

Before fear had a chance to sink in though, he felt himself retreat back into his conditioning. It was the first time it had happened since he'd been released, but he was glad he did. Fear, exhilaration, happiness, it was all devoured by the black pit in his mind that he hadn't even suspected existed. It took them all, and left him bare.

With cold certainty, Fukaine Naruto flashed through a series of handseals faster than any genin could only hope to one day achieve. He let himself slow down, let his pursuers come close.

He could feel their presences getting closer, he could _hear_ their leaps and bounds as they caught up.

Without even the smallest of grins, Naruto finished the last handseal. In the darkness of night, what he was about to do was especially cruel.

"Radiant shadow technique." He whispered, naming one of the many surveillance techniques he had developed.

His skin erupted into brilliant, blinding light as his chakra caused him to briefly become violently bioluminescent. The ANBU behind him cursed almost simultaneously, and lagged for a moment as they tried to blink away for the spots from their eyes.

Even as they did, his chakra now rapidly began absorbing light, changing him from a blinding light to a black spot. Their eyes thus damaged, they had no way to see him suddenly veer away from the village into the forest.

But even with this, Naruto knew it would only be a few moments before they were back on his trail.

Lacing chakra along his bones and muscles, he leapt up into the boughs of the trees with a single powerful leap. Once there, he began a second sequence of handseals. Uncertain as to how much more time he had, he drew in a deep breath of air just as he finished the last seal.

The sound of his movement suddenly vanished as the technique he used to effect. His footfalls were soundless, the rustle of his jumpsuit was silenced. Less obvious, his scent was left only where his feet landed.

Even for a skilled tracker, his trail would be difficult to find. Unless one of the ANBU pursuing him belonged to one of the tracking specialist families, he was likely to be safe until morning.

Making good speed, he decided to go to the spot where Mizuki had told him to wait. He might as well learn something from the scroll until the chuunin arrived.

* * *

Umino Iruka was shocked to learn that one of his students had broken into the hokage's office and stolen the Forbidden Scroll. The shock had subdued when he learned that the student in question had been Fukaine Naruto.

The hokage had summoned him to his office to learn what he could about Naruto's abilities. Iruka had been ashamed to admit that after five years of teaching the child, he had no idea what they were. A mastery of the basic ninja techniques at least, and likely a cunning mind.

The old man behind the desk had merely nodded, then asked him to try and find the boy.

But he wasn't the only one. It looked like every ninja not on active duty already had also been dispatched on this task, including ANBU. He was worried about the last, as many of their number were likely to deal with Naruto harshly. And quickly.

Determined to find the boy before any of the others, he sped off into the night in pursuit. He spotted his friend, Mizuki, and decided that it would be best if they cooperated. After all, two pairs of eyes were better than one.

He increased speed to match that of the other chuunin, not noticing that Mizuki was following a very narrow search route. He had bigger things on his mind, like how he may have inadvertently caused this situation...

* * *

"Naruto?" Someone called through the gloom of the forest, causing the young blonde to pause in his studious attention to the scroll unraveled in his lap. "Are you there?"

Fukaine Naruto knew better than to answer, and resumed his study. He was waiting here for a very specific reason, and he knew he was well hidden from anyone who might come looking for him. Various seals had been strategically scrawled into the trunks of trees, damping whatever sound he made and alerting him if any chakra signature came too close.

He was studying the shadow clone technique, something he'd pined after for years. If he'd had it when he'd started this accursed mission, he could have avoided so much. The painfully dull classes, the horribly banal training sessions of Sasuke Uchiha and whatever other forays into the village he'd been forced into for various necessities.

He absorbed the fundaments of the technique quickly, experimentally performing it.

A puff of smoke revealed that he had them down, and he read on.

Or would have, anyway.

One of the marked trees suddenly activated, alerting him to a new presence.

With a smile, he dispelled the clone and rolled the scroll up.

"Naruto?" Someone whispered, and Naruto recognized it as Mizuki.

The boy waited a moment before speaking. He rose from the ground, strapped the scroll to his shoulder once more, and dusted himself off before doing so. As he did, the chuunin walked into the small clearing the boy had been using as his hideout, a small smirk on his face.

"Mizuki." He answered, a dark smile forming. "You tried to get me killed."

Silence greeted this, as Naruto had expected. Mizuki's smile vanished, replaced instead by a deep frown.

"Naruto?!" A second voice shouted incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

This surprised the young blonde. He had expected Mizuki to be working alone, but this did not seem to be the case. But worse, he recognized this voice! He'd never have suspected _him _of such a betrayal. Which should have made him suspect it all the more, he surmised.

"Iruka-sensei?" He said incredulously. He felt his blood chill as realization came to him.

Naruto could kick himself at the simplicity of it all. _This_ was why Iruka had tried so fervently to gauge his skill. He wanted to know how much a challenge Naruto would give at this moment.

So much the better that he had never given either of his opponents a chance to fully learn the threat he presented.

"So, you were working together." He said slowly, ignoring the pain in his chest. "I should have known, I guess."

Iruka emerged into the clearing now as well, a bewildered look on his face.

"What are you _talking_ about, Naruto?!" He demanded. "Come with me, we have to get to the hokage before the others find us. He might go easy on you, you ju-"

"Oh shut _up_, Iruka." Mizuki snapped. "Naruto, give me the scroll."

The boy sneered suddenly, and turned his focus fully on Mizuki.

"Do you really think I'd do that?" He demanded, and move into a combat stance.

Mizuki laughed, and moved as if to pull a kunai from a pouch.

"Well, I guess I can kill you and _then_ take it." He said chidingly, flipping the weapon in his hand. "But it'd be _so_ much easier if you just did as I said."

Iruka shot his friend a look of utter disbelief, reeling from the second discovery of the night. Naruto didn't appear to be listening, instead watching the gray-haired chuunin with a calculating eye.

"What are you saying, Mizuki?" He asked incredulously. "Did you...?"

The other man shot Iruka a look of exasperation, taking his eyes off the boy to do so.

"Did I betray this sorry excuse for a village?" A sneer formed on his face as he said this. "Of course I did, you-"

But he never got the chance to finish the sentence.

Naruto moved with a speed that neither Iruka or Mizuki had ever suspected, crossing the ground between him and Mizuki in a blur of orange.

The chuunin tried to react to the movement, but it was already too late. Relying on his ANBU Root training, Fukaine Naruto knew better than to give his opponent any chance to recover. His first blow came as soon as he got close, feigning with a punch and following up with a crushing blow to the man's knee.

The man bellowed in surprise as his leg gave out, forcing him into a kneeling position. Not waiting for his opponent to recover, he took advantage of the man's lowered position to bring a hard palm strike upwards to his nose.

Iruka watched the devastating exchange with a horrified look on his face. He _knew_ that Naruto had been hiding his abilities, and so had Mizuki, to some extent. But neither had suspected _this_. As Naruto delivered the second blow, Iruka heard the telltale snap and crunch of bone, and knew that Mizuki was dead. The blow the boy had inflicted had driven the nose cartilage up through the man's skull, into his brain. Even now blood dripped copiously down his face, as the body thrashed about slightly in its death-throes.

Just as Naruto had intended.

He'd been shocked to hear what Naruto had said to Mizuki, and even more so when Mizuki had confirmed it. He'd never even suspected his friend of harboring a single traitorous thought, let alone the willingness to trick and then murder one of his own students. He was still numb from it all, but not so much that he ignored a possible threat. Naruto it seemed, whose abilities were _still_ largely unknown, had been trained to be able to quickly and effificiently murder his enemies without a moments hesitation.

"Naruto..." He whispered, aghast at all.

The boy in question leveled him an expressionless stare as he heard his name, and turned to face him fully.

"Are you satisfied, _sensei_?" He demanded. Rage pulsed through his veins, burning his mind with its conflagration. "Did I perform to your standards?"

Iruka saw the boy tense, but unlike Mizuki he was prepared. As Naruto exploded into movement, he was shocked to see the scarred man replaced with a log and a puff of smoke. The boy narrowed his eyes in annoyance, and allowed himself to slow down

A displacement technique.

Naruto swatted the log away and hastily surveyed his surroundings, searching for his enemy.

He never spared the log a second glance, and wasted no time in turning his back on it in search of the chuunin.

"Running, traitor?!" Naruto shouted, anger infecting his mind. The betrayal of his teacher and, as he had believed, friend was affecting him profoundly. The control of his conditioning had vanished, replaced instead by the burning need to destroy.

"Come out and face me!" He called out to the forest, goading his teacher.

He heard the pop from behind him, and realized his error quickly. Not a displacement, but a transformation! He whirled around with murder in his eyes, only to receive a powerful blow to his temple.

Naruto crumpled instantly, sagging to the ground.

Umino Iruka, panting deeply more in anxiety than exertion, picked up his student and the Forbidden Scroll. With a mournful look at the body that had been his friend, he stole off into the forest once more, in the direction of the hokage's office.

After all, he would want to know what had transpired, if he didn't already know.

* * *

**A/N**: I've gotta learn how to make these chapters the right size. There were some other things I wanted to put into this chapter, but if I did it would have made this thing a monster and a half. A few of the scenes I'll simply reuse in different chapters, making us all laugh or whatever. Hopefully.

I've also gotta stop waiting until the ass-crack of dawn to give the chapter a once-over. It never works out, and I always end up spending the following afternoon correcting silly mistakes.

And no. There will be no yaoi. I've got no beef with it, and everyone else can like it until the sun collapses on itself, destroys us all and the cows come home. Hinata simply has a working imagination.

I did it simply because the idea because made me cackle. It still does. Heh.

And as for the reviews and favorites and so on and so forth, well, I love it! MORE, I say! Propagate into a great thingee of stuff! Worship the story!

Ahem. Sorry about that. That twisted wench Mania let herself in, and I had to menace her with a newspaper to make her leave. In any case, much appreciated!

Next chapter: A confrontation! Or two!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

Danzo didn't like being summoned into the hokage's office. It labeled him clearly as a subordinate, and he _hated_ anything that in any way reminded him that the old monkey was the one giving orders, and not he. But the memo he'd received had warned him clearly that failure to meet with the hokage wouldn't be good for him.

Though he hated Sarutobi, he knew that his old enemy wasn't someone to take lightly. Withered though he was, he still possessed the skill, knowledge and authority to annihilate him and everyone he was associated with.

So he obeyed, and now he was seated in one of the uncomfortable chairs alongside his aide. As they did so, something behind the hokage stirred. From an unseen niche in the room, Morino Ibiki materialized.

Suddenly Danzo felt a deep, sinking apprehension.

The leader of Konoha almost looked as if he was constructing a paper fortress on his desk, as laden as it was. As they entered, the old man hadn't spared a glance at them, instead merely motioning for them to sit with an inclination of his head. He still had not raised his head and was still filling out paper work.

Even now, the hokage didn't move beyond what was necessary to fill out the paperwork. With the unspoken threat in the air, being utterly ignored seemed to add insult to injury. Even if there wasn't any yet. Annoyed at being dismissed in such a manner, Danzo cleared his throat loudly. The silent scribbling ceased for a moment, before the hokage raised his eyes to level the old cripple with a look he hadn't thought (but much suspected) Sarutobi possessed.

It was full righteous anger, and barely controlled fury.

"Did you know there is the corpse of a chuunin at the hospital?" He demanded flatly.

Danzo knew full well there was, though not all the details.

He knew that _something_ had happened the night before, and that young Fukaine Naruto was somehow involved. It was immensely frustrating that he had acquired so little information, and not a bit sobering. If Sarutobi could lock down so much information so effectively, he had to know where the majority of his Root agents were situated. And if he knew that, then it meant someone had leaked information.

Naruto was, of course, not a suspect. He'd been a child when he left their ranks, and would not have possessed nearly enough information to contribute to such a thorough lockdown. The hokage had other sources, it seemed. Sources that Danzo had no knowledge of.

A truly worrying thought.

Danzo nodded slowly, unsure of what else was expected of him.

"I trust the murderer is already under arrest?" He asked, silently praying that it wasn't Naruto.

"No." Sarutobi stated, his face carefully kept inert. "We can't, really. The man was _executed_, not murdered."

"I see." Danzo muttered, even if he didn't. Sarutobi nodded in understanding, and continued.

"It seems that the chuunin in question had decided to betray us, but was dispatched before his plan came to fruition."

At this Sarutobi rose from his chair, and now Danzo could see that he was garbed in his battle attire. The armor squeaked and groaned and in places clanked in the movement. Angrily, the man slammed both his hands down on the desk and leaned forward.

"Fukaine Naruto, was tricked into stealing from my office on the traitor's behalf. When he discovered this, he killed the traitor. Naturally, his previous failure of the genin exam has been reversed because of this."

"Well and good, then." Danzo said, but suddenly knew where this was headed.

"No, _not_ well and good. You see, _now_ we have to put the boy in a squad. But we can't do that, because it seems that for the past five years the boy has lied to and deceived his instructors. He possessed enough skill to _kill_ a chuunin, and nobody knew of it. We do not know what to do with him, in short."

"If this were any other village, I'd have demanded you inform me of the boy's _true_ skill. But since I'd know you wouldn't tell me, I'd torture it out of you. After all, you all by yourself aren't particularly useful to me."

Danzo felt himself rise, not wholly intimidated but very wary. Beside him his aide tensed, no doubt positioning himself so that at a moments notice he could unleash whatever weapon he had secreted on him.

"_Sit down_!" The hokage ordered, and such was the force of his voice that Danzo found himself obeying.

"Tell me, what would _you_ do if you found a person keeping potentially lethal secrets from you?"

Danzo didn't answer, because he knew there was no point. Both knew what the proper action would be, even though Hiruzen wouldn't do it.

Sure enough, the hokage slowly sat himself back down, and regained his calm.

"_So aren't you glad we do things my way_?" He asked loudly, his voice hard and cold. "Where I simply remind you that I can have these things done to you, and then trust your judgment?"

Danzo remained silent for a moment, his mind racing.

Sarutobi was hoping to intimidate information out of him, and Danzo couldn't quite be sure if he wouldn't follow through. There was a good chance that the old ninja would actually do it, and damn the consequences. He _was_ the highest authority of the village, after all, and was fully in his rights to do it.

So... Maybe a _bit_ of truth would be in order.

With a sigh of defeat, he closed his eye and began his recitation.

"Fukaine Naruto _was_ one of our trainees. We did not lie about that." He said, lying through his teeth. "We _did_ release him when our organization was disbanded."

Sarutobi merely glared at Danzo, silently urging him to continue.

"_But_ when he came back to us, I thought it would be... Remiss of us to not exact some kind of payment for his earlier training. We gave him a mission."

"I don't see how these details help your case, Danzo." Sarutobi said slowly. "I asked to know what the boy was capable of, not what you wanted him to do."

"I ordered him to observe and protect the Uchiha." Danzo stated, earning him a surprised look from the hokage. "He is skilled in close-range combat, augmenting his taijutsu with henge and minor genjutsu. We originally trained him to be a close range specialist, or an assassin, but as I said earlier, his training was cut short. His skills were sufficient for this task, however."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was carefully blank as he absorbed this, as if dumbfounded. Danzo wasn't too sure that this wasn't the case, as there was no change of expression even after a minute.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, it was Ibiki that spoke.

"Wait, so you're telling us that you sent a boy who was trained as an _assassin_ to guard someone? And you never thought to tell the hokage?" He demanded disbelievingly, his hands clenching.

"I felt that this would negatively affect the boy's chances of being allowed to resume his education." Danzo answered calmly, his face not betraying a single thought. "Though it _does_ surprise me that he managed to kill a chuunin. I assume surprise was involved?"

"Of course." Sarutobi answered, by now recovered. "We have him in custody, but in light of this recent information I believe I know what to do with him."

His glance strayed back down to the paperwork once more in fronts of him, and he picked up his pen once again. The air was filled with the softly scratching sound of writing as the hokage's focus was once more on his duties as the leader of Konoha.

"You may leave." He said, almost as an afterthought. "Now."

* * *

Naruto was imprisoned in a cell with little light and absolutely nothing to occupy him. There were no windows, only a door and a tiny grate for someone on the other side to look through.

It didn't particularly bother him. His room at the Root headquarters hadn't been so very different. The only major one was that _he_ was the one who got to open the door. Eliminating that part of the equation had surprisingly little effect on him, he found.

It was surprising for his guards as well, who didn't seem at all comfortable with a child in such a cell. They checked up on him every hour, a worried look on their faces.

This baffled Naruto, who was sure that by now his mission was well and truly failed. They must surely know what he was, what he was a part of. At the very least, what he had _done_. But if they did, they didn't show it.

They'd asked if he was _alright_.

It seemed to him that they maybe hadn't quite grasped the purpose of putting someone in such a cell. Child or no, if they were behind the bars, there was probably a good reason for it.

But he didn't feel the need to correct them on this point. If Danzo couldn't find a way to free him, then he would have to escape on his own. And under those circumstances, guards who didn't know how to handle him was a boon he dared not to lose.

So instead of worrying uselessly, or railing against his captors for his imprisonment, he instead used the time of isolation. The interior of the cell was etched in complex seals, effectively disrupting the flow of chakra outside of the body and preventing the buildup of unnaturally large amounts inside his body. If he only knew more about seals, he could maybe disrupt the seals and then...

He was spared further speculation as his cell door swung open, almost blinding him with the sudden flood of light. He shaded his eyes with his eyes, and squinted to see what was going on.

Someone was silhouetted in the doorframe, preventing Naruto from identifying them. The only thing he could distinguish at the moment was that the person was likely male.

"Fukaine Naruto?" The person asked, boredom tainting their voice.

The boy contemplated for a moment if he should answer 'no' simply to see what would happen if he did, but decided there was little point.

"Yes."

"Follow me. The hokage wants to talk to you." The man stated, and turned to leave.

Quickly, not wishing to be left behind, Naruto followed.

He didn't know where he was imprisoned, but the lack of masks on the guards led him to suspect that he wasn't in an ANBU section. And that, at least, was promising. Maybe his mission wasn't wholly failed. Maybe Danzo had found a way for him to continue.

It never once entered into his mind to wonder what the hokage might want from him. In fact, he had never once considered the old man to _really_ be the highest authority figure in the village, but rather someone that needed to be tricked. An enemy, perhaps. An enemy who now likely knew the whole extent of his abilities.

It never occurred to him to suspect that maybe Danzo didn't _really_ command him, that he technically wasn't even a member of Root. But even if he had thought these things, he would have repressed them. For down that road of thought lay madness and he had enough of that on his hands at the moment.

They left the cells of the ANBU building surprisingly quickly (Naruto had for some reason expected the cells to be located deep underground) and was following the man out into the street. Without even a glance at the boy behind him, he took a single, powerful leap onto a nearby building, and then looked down expectantly at Naruto.

Slightly confused as to what was going on, the boy followed.

The man was a jounin, and likely a member of ANBU as well. After all, Naruto had been imprisoned for the murder of a chuunin. The hokage would be likely to have had him investigated by now, and until that uncovered something he wouldn't want to risk anyone who couldn't defend themselves adequately.

Naruto was no fool. He knew that he had only managed to kill Mizuki through overconfidence and surprise. If the man had been prepared, and knew more of his abilities, it would have been Naruto lying on the ground playing dead indefinitely. Even so, with his years of practice in the arts of stealth, he was confident that he could get away from his escort if he _really_ needed to.

He was wrong, of course, but not by much. If the jounin in question had been any other than Hatake Kakashi, he would likely have been right. The eye that had become the deadliest weapon in his arsenal would see through any genjutsu the boy could use to mask his escape.

The two bounded across the buildings in silence, both not particularly caring about the other. Kakashi considered it just a minor task, and Naruto was instead wondering what his future would hold.

Before long they arrived at the hokage tower, and entered in the same stoic silence. The guards and receptionist spared them a passing glance, all recognizing the famous jounin. As more and more people waved them through, Naruto began to worry.

His situation was important enough that everyone in the tower knew he would be coming, and who his guard would be. He knew he was in trouble, but he didn't know quite how much.

Finally, he was ushered into the hokage's office.

The old man was sitting at his desk once more, but now the vast paperwork had been cleared away. Now there was only the hokage sitting with a wistful expression on his face, perhaps in contemplation. Of what, Naruto was just beginning to wonder. And not with a bit of apprehension.

"Fukaine Naruto." The jounin announced, straightening himself up to stand at attention. Or maybe not. As he did, Naruto watched in horrified wonder as he drew a book from somewhere on his person, and raised it eye-level. He read the title, and was further dismayed.

_Icha-Icha Paradise_.

This man was a _jounin_?!

Even if Naruto had been fully indoctrinated in the Root training as all the other youths his age had been, he still would not have been able to stop his mouth from dropping in astonishment. It was something that had to be cultivated over the course of years.

"So I see." The hokage remarked. He gestured to a chair in front of the desk. "Sit down, boy."

Naruto obeyed quickly, eager to distance himself from the strange jounin that had served as his escort.

He waited, nervous to be in the same room as the man who could easily order him to tortured into revealing his origins. He needn't have worried, but having been raised by the metaphorical wolves, his mind quickly and easily went to dark places.

After all, torture was an accepted method of information gathering, and one of the less disturbing. There were other ways, ways that did not need a living body. But Naruto doubted that the old man would order an academy student killed on the off chance it would reveal some vital information.

"You are to be congratulated, Fukaine Naruto." The old man said magnanimously, smiling. "Very few academy students would ever have a chance of surviving against a chuunin."

Naruto remained silent, not wanting to reveal anything. Confidence would reveal that he had known he would be able to kill Mizuki. And he was still too unfamiliar with his own emotions to try to fake one of them, and knew that if he did he would be easily discovered. Instead, he waited.

"But, not only did you survive, you managed to defeat Mizuki. It is rare that a child of your talent escapes the notice of his teachers, though I suspect that you are fortunate that it did."

Naruto saw no point in either denying or arguing the point.

"Yes." He agreed shortly, his blue eyes riveted on the hokage.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, for his part, returned the boy's scrutiny. But whereas the child was simply waiting, the hokage was carefully studying and evaluating. He hadn't become a kage-level ninja by dint of his excellent penmanship, (though he sometimes suspected that he'd become hokage because of it,) and could read the boy's reactions like a book.

He was sure now, in fact, that Fukaine Naruto had intentionally hidden the full extent of his abilities from his instructors and students, and likely on the orders of Danzo. Iruka confirmed that the boy was likely adept in the stealth arts, though that seemed all he was willing to reveal. When pressed, the head instructor simply said that he _really_ didn't know what Naruto was really capable of. The extermination of Mizuki had taken everyone who'd taught Naruto at the academy by surprise, even if they didn't admit it.

The hokage, however, was prepared to make a guess.

Naruto wasn't a reject from Danzo's organization, that much was certain. The crippled ninja would never have allowed someone like Naruto to slip through his grasp, not unless there was something to be gained from it. And that was what made Sarutobi so wary.

He knew that Naruto was far more dangerous than he had initially assumed. But what made him more dangerous _still_ was that he couldn't be sure of his objectives.

But all that would make his chosen course of action all that much more effective.

"In light of this recent development, I believe it prudent to expedite your graduation. The normal tests will be eschewed. You will be placed on a gennin team, with a suitable instructor."

Naruto took this in, and even read between the lines. _A suitable instructor_. He'd be watched, from now on. There would be no more hiding from the hokage, at least not as easily.

He frowned ever so slightly upon hearing this. The hokage saw this, and knew what it meant.

"However, to it would help me immensely if you could tell me what you were trained in prior to being expelled from your training."

It was a trick question. If the boy retained _any_ of the training he'd received, he'd lie. Or outright refuse to answer. But there was truth to be gleaned even from a myriad of lies.

Naruto knew this, and instead offered the truth.

"I'm not supposed to speak of my training," Naruto began reproachfully, though his voice also carried a sincere tone of nervousness. "But I have trained myself especially in evasion and stealth techniques."

"Yes, I thought you might." The hokage answered seriously, casting a glance at Kakashi for a moment. "Your superior informed me of the mission he gave you.

"He did?" Naruto asked with an incredulous look on his face. So much secrecy for five years, and Danzo undoes it in a moment. It made something deep inside of him twitch, and his skin turn hot for a moment.

"Yes." Sarutobi confirmed, noting how openly the boy broadcasted his emotions. Those that slipped past his conditioning, at any rate. Surprise and annoyance, hmm? "I would like you to know that while I do not approve of the circumstances under which you began the mission, I see no reason for you to stop."

Fukaine Naruto simply stared. All the effort he had put into not being discovered, the indignations he had suffered at the hands of his 'peers', and it had been for _nothing_? Not only did the hokage _know_, but he even wished for Naruto to continue. A thought nagged at him from the back of his mind, however.

Even the hokage wanted Naruto to watch Uchiha Sasuke for treachery, it seemed. With such powerful men not trusting the youth, Naruto had to wonder how long the heir could survive without some hidden faction deeming the risk too great.

Sarutobi felt very good about his decision. It would almost certainly lead the boy away Danzo's machinations, and maybe even instill a Will of Fire into him. A trial by fire, maybe, but he had no doubt that young Naruto could handle it. Or suddenly go insane. But there wasn't much chance of _that_, after all. He was only a boy with a trouble past, which was nothing he hadn't seen before, and hopefully knew how to deal with by now.

Yes, Fukaine Naruto would become one of the proud shinobi of the leaf.

But, as Sarutobi looked at the boy now, he felt as if he should recognize him from somewhere. There was something strangely familiar about him.

With a shake of his head, Sarubobi dismissed such thoughts. He was probably just imagining things in any case.

"Report to the academy tomorrow to learn of your team placement." He informed the boy, and then gestured to the door. "You're free to leave."

* * *

It was later, and the young ninja was indeed free once more. He celebrated his renewed mission by retreating to the outskirts of Konoha, where he could train himself in peace. Talking to the hokage had reminded him that he hadn't been able to refine his fighting skills in years, and that he would have to remedy that as soon as possible if he didn't wish to lag behind the other recruits.

He wasn't thinking of the genin when he thought this, but of the many faceless children he had left behind in Root. It was a thought that had come to him early on in his solitude of the ANBU holding cells. Would the others have been able to escape? Would they have been caught at all? Would they have allowed themselves to become controlled by their emotions like he had, or would their minds have remained still as millponds in the face of rage.

He didn't know, but he was determined that in matters of skill, he wouldn't be left behind. He wouldn't let Danzo down again.

There was a clearing he knew of, one that was rarely, if ever, used. It was too far away from the beaten paths, and too awkward. The landscape was irregular, interspersed with stone outcroppings and uneven ground. It was also relatively small, so it would be useless for team exercises.

But Naruto found it perfect. Isolated, irregular and often overlooked. If he hadn't already had one, he would have made this place his home.

But as he was on his way, he felt something return. Something he'd forgotten about, and unconsciously hoped would end. With its return, Naruto knew that today would be wasted.

His watcher had returned. He didn't know how he knew, but the feeling of being watched had returned.

Well, there were ways to elude pursuit. He'd been reluctant to do so before, but after last night he was sure that much of the ninja of Konoha now knew of his escape of trained ANBU. This watcher, whoever they were, was about to learn what he could do.

A hand flashed down to one of the many pockets on his jumpsuits, and produced a small, nondescript sphere. With a mischievous smirk he smashed it into a tree, reveling as the air was quickly filled with dark smoke, obscuring him from any prying eyes.

Next he created a shadow clone, which poofed into existence in front of him, continuing in the direction he had been going, while he remained obscured in the smoke. It would be obvious that he was up to something to whoever was pursuing him, but with the smoke up they wouldn't be able to know what that was. They'd likely be cautious, but they'd have to follow.

He quickly hid himself away, waiting for the annoyance that had plagued him for so long.

The wait was short.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata, in worried confusion, had tried desperately to find Fukaine Naruto since yesterday, on the vague hope of being able to console the boy, and maybe even get close to him.

But the boy vanished after Mizuki had spoken to him, moving too quickly for her to follow and then proving far too elusive to find again. Dejected, she'd gone home.

And then she'd woken up and there was a buzz all about town about someone breaking into the hokage's tower, only it was alright because the perpetrator had been captured. Or killed. Dealt with, in any case. But what worried her was that Naruto's name popped up into more than one of the conversations.

So it was with that she started her day with a worried search for her crush, which had almost ended up in fruitless defeat. As despair had settled in, however, the boy had flashed across her vision in a blur of orange, and she followed with a relieved sigh.

If Naruto was free, then obviously nothing too bad had happened.

She took off after him as he vanished into the forests surrounding Konoha, activating her byakugan as he did. With her crush and idol in sight, Hinata felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

And then he'd done something strange.

She'd heard from some of the more experienced elders than skilled ninja could sometimes tell if they were being watched, even by the byakugan. She'd been watching the boy long enough to know that he was skilled in certain aspects of the shinobi arts, but she doubted that he was _that_ skilled...

But the sudden cloud of smoke that obscured her path put doubt into her mind. Could he have known for all this time? Hesitant, but unwilling to believe that she'd been discovered, Hinata followed. It was probably just a sudden whim of Naruto's, after all.

She sped through the smoke, as was surprised to no end when something followed quickly behind her.

Her 360 degree vision allowed her to see boy as he erupted from the smoke, and she realized that he had _indeed_ known she was following. But whether this was a new development or whether he had always known was something she didn't have the wits to consider at the moment.

Right now, she panicked as the boy quickly began closing the gap between them.

He was going to _catch_ her!

She might dream about them together, (and occasionally someone else as well,) but there was a world of difference between hoping for something to happen and realizing that it was about to take place.

So she quickly increased her speed and threw a handful of shuriken behind her, knowing that none would strike the boy, but would hopefully slow him down a bit. They hissed through the air, and the boy was forced to dodge them, temporarily averting his gaze from her long enough for her to create a trio of clones. With a popping noise and a few wisps of smoke they were summoned into existence.

They were insubstantial, and would become useless once they left her vision, but they would do the trick for now. Without knowing which was the real one, Naruto's chances of finding her among the others would be greatly diminished.

The three split up, each taking their own directions. Confused, Naruto picked one of the fleeing watchers at random.

It was the wrong one.

Hinata watched as he chased after a normal clone, and was relieved when he finally disappeared from her sight.

Right now, it was alright simply to know that he was alright, and that nothing had happened to him the night before.

* * *

**A/N**: I deeply apologize for the late update, but I've been swamped at work. And when I got back, my brain was dead for all intent and purposes. A combination of the release Sims 3, summer break and a mystifying streak of fantastic weather _totally_ do not enter into the equation. Down that road lies madness. And the beach.

Again, many apologies. Will try not to do so again.

So, the teams. About them. I was thinking of either canon team seven, or one consisting of Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata (thanks to Johnny Boy, who gave me a reason to consider this formation other than for the silliness it would entail). I briefly played with the strange formation of Sakura, Hinata and Naruto (Team Traingle of Silly), or Sasuke, Sai and Naruto (Team Sausage), but I've decided that they have about as much chance of working as the solar-powered flashlight despite some of the strangeness I could get in.

Whichever of the two configurations I pick, I'm confident that I can make something interesting of it.

Kakashi is the instructor, set in stone. As much as I liked Altered History and Team 8, I'm not about to let them influence me to change that. So tough titties to everyone out there who held their breath.

Hooray for new readers! Doubly so new reviews and favorites and the like! I dined on praise and good intentions last weak! Food for the brain, doncha know. (They're a far cry from the souls and pie I otherwise live on, but I'll survive.)

And my new pet peeve is anybody who uses defiantly in place of definitely. They're two completely different words, peoples!

Also: monkeys, penguins, cats and sloths are the ninjas of the animal world. I think it is a terrible waste that only two of these animals are likely to ever appear in the manga or the anime. I mean, this is common knowledge, right? Who'd _you_ rather be faced with in a dark alley: A pirate, or a _penguin_?

I think the answer is obvious to any sensible person.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

There were things that the young ninja named Naruto was prepared to do for the sake of loyalty. Whether it was to Danzo or Konoha, or maybe even the hokage, he could force himself to do things he rather wouldn't.

One of those things, at this moment, was tolerating the attempts of his former classmates to tease him for his presence, to proclaim that he had failed or, and he struggled against a veritable avalanche of annoyance at this, proud declarations of their superiority over him.

_I killed one of your teachers. Mizuki is dead because he underestimated me. Do you want to as well?_

He could say it. He almost _wanted_ to say it, and gain the respect he deserved. Even fear would be better than this ridicule, he thought, but did not wish to test the theory.

_The hokage knows of my training, and something of what I can do. Once I'm on a team, I won't have to hide them. Not all of them, anyways._

It was that thought alone that allowed him to ignore them, now. All he had to do was show a little more patience, and he would be free.

Iruka had not yet arrived, and for that Naruto was both grateful and afraid. Grateful that he did not have to see the sad face of his teacher, the man who had somehow kindled a strange brand of friendship in the boy through adversity. The two had spent years outfoxing one another, trying to learn what the other was hiding or suspected, all of which was now at an end. Even if Iruka didn't know what the full extent of his skills, he would know better than to underestimate him.

He felt a strange sinking sensation in his stomach whenever he dwelled on such thoughts, however, so he quickly focused on something else.

The encounter yesterday.

He had almost caught his unseen pursuer, he was sure. His ruse had surprised them, and if he had but thought more at the time he was certain he could have had them. Simply using the shadow clone technique again would have been enough to give chase, but at the time it had escaped him. And because of that, so had his quarry.

It was a sore spot to him, but he would not allow himself to let it go. He'd let himself be controlled my his emotions, by his resentment, and it in turn had blinded him to the proper course of action. He resolved to never let himself fall to the same folly.

But he suspected that it would happen again, despite his wishes.

"... What's he doing here, anyways? Didn't he fail yesterday?" Behind him, someone was whispering.

Naruto felt his eyebrow twitching uncontrollably as he heard the two exchange gossip, mostly revolving around him and what had occurred the night before.

"I don't know, but I heard he was in the ANBU cells yesterday." The other, a girl, whispered back.

"What?!" The first whisperer exclaimed as quietly as he could. He still managed to gather the attention of the students on the other side of the room, however. "You're joking! What would they want with a failure like Naruto?"

The blonde found himself balling his hands into fists without knowing, and forced himself to relax.

He could do this. He could ignore them...

"I don't know! I just hope he doesn't cause trouble for Sasuke." The boy heard a sigh. "I suppose that's too much to ask for though, isn't it? Naruto always causes trouble, doesn't he?"

The two giggled at this, but didn't continue their discussion. Instead they focused their attention on the boy sitting one row in front of Naruto, who was alone.

He wasn't alone on the account of others, however. The boy had sat in three spots previously, moving from each one as others joined him until they finally gave up. The 'others' were mostly of the female persuasion, and had been hell-bent on taking a seemingly final attempt to kindle something that resembled favor from the Uchiha. The boys of the class, little liking the stoic heir and wishing to avoid trouble with the girls, had all wisely done what they could to avoid him.

Taking up an old line of question, Naruto decided to try and divine why the Uchiha should be the focus for such attention.

Naruto had never seen him carry any kind of unnecessary conversation with anybody, and even went out of his way to discourage any kind of contact with others. In all the five years Naruto had observed the boy, he had kept himself at a great distance from the other children, choosing instead to throw himself wholly into his studies and training. Naruto found the intent laudable, but questioned the method in which the Uchiha went about it.

There was a reason they were put into classes, after all. They were meant to learn from each other, gain allies, and to know how to work in groups.

Not that he would know much of that, but he understood the theory of the matter. Besides, it wasn't like he would be like this forever. Eventually, Danzo would recall him...

Naruto decided that it probably wasn't the Uchiha's charm that made him so popular with the ladies.

Perhaps it was a matter of physical appearance? Naruto hadn't really taken a chance to really consider that aspect. To be fair, though, he hadn't considered anybody else's either.

He played with the idea as he leaned in for a closer inspection.

"Jeez, what is he doing now?"

Naruto caught the harsh whisper once more to his annoyance.

"I don't know..." A momentary pause. "Why is he staring at Sasuke?"

"Who knows. That kid is _weird_."

"I know! He's-"

Whatever was said after this was abruptly cut off as Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura entered the classroom, each one studiously the other. Naruto spared them a moment's notice as they both scanned the room, before spotting their common crush and trying to find a good spot to observe him.

Both their eyes landed on his row, almost completely vacant and right behind Sasuke.

If Naruto had been raised normally, he would have been worried at the way the two began moving purposefully towards him. They would have noted with growing fear as they shouldered an shoved each other away, sometimes violently, trying to get up the narrow stairway ahead of the other.

It was Sakura who eventually fought her way up to his row, whereupon she sidled up to him with what she must have thought was a smile. But the expression she wore around turned into something between a manic grin and an annoyed grimace.

"Hey Naruto, move over." She said.

Any other boy would have done so, but Naruto was painfully unaware of his peril.

"No. You have room there." He answered flatly, and turned back to his study.

The smile slipped from Sakura's face as her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Listen here, you little creep-"

"_Outta my way, forehead girl!_" Ino interrupted, and violently shoved past the pink-haired girl. She would have ploughed through Naruto in much the same manner, had Sakura not recovered sufficiently to latch both arms onto Ino and forcibly restrain her.

"_No!_ I get to sit there!"

The two continued bickering in this manner, shoving and occasionally hitting one another. Their fighting soon gathered the attention of the rest of the class, but they ignored it.

It was only when Uchiha Sasuke snapped his head around that the two stopped bickering. Both instantly stared at him in silence, each as unmoving as a statue. Which was humorous, considering that they were both in mid-swing of a punch.

"Be quiet." He snapped.

And then something surprising happened, something that would forever stick in the minds of both adversaries and admirers of Uchiha Sasuke.

Realizing that their crush was actually _talking_ to them, albeit to make them stop talking, they both instantly untangled themselves from each other and hastily composed themselves. As they did this, however, One of Sakura's arms connected with the back of Naruto's head with enough force and surprise to violently shove the boy's head forward.

The boy tumbled forward in his surprise, and Sasuke's head turned at this sudden movement.

By some mishap of fortune, their lips met in a moment of shocked incredulity. And then horror sunk in (mostly from Sasuke) and they both scrabbled away from one another.

For what seemed to be an eternity, the entirety of the class could only gape and stare in wide-eyed shock. The only sound that could be heard was the two boys reeling away from each other, each one glaring at the other.

And then the room was _drowned_ in sound.

"_Naruto! What the _hell_ did you do?!_"

"Whoo! I _knew_ Naruto was weird!"

"You _bastard!_ You stole Sasuke's first kiss!"

"Go Naruto!"

As a single entity, the girls of the class had risen and were now trying to fight their way to get the young genin. They struggled to reach him first, but even in such a circumstance Naruto kept his head.

Moving with more speed than any of his peers had an inkling he possessed, Naruto curled his legs upwards to the bench and launched himself upwards and forward before either Ino or Sakura could begin pummeling him.

The leap carried him over the heads of his fellow classmates and to the front of the room, where he fell into a roll, and from that he moved into a wary crouch with one hand clutching the handle of a kunai hidden in a pocket.

He watched as the two girls stumbled to where he had been only moments before and crash in a flurry of limbs, both cursing loudly.

The other girls didn't look like they were going to follow their example, and were stamping down the stairs to show Naruto _exactly_ what they thought of him stealing Sasuke's first kiss.

Or rather, they would have. If Iruka hadn't casually opened the door and strode to the head of the classroom, oblivious to the danger, there might have been bloodshed. As it was, he was merely annoyed.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, and such was the respect and fear he had garnered from the children that everyone paused mid-step, and then shamefacedly shuffled back to their spots.

The chuunin glared submission into his students but was earnestly surprised (and not a little bit worried) to see Naruto at the head of the classroom ready to retaliate to an eventual attack.

"Naruto?" He said meekly, somewhat unsure as to WHY the boy was there.

He hadn't heard anything specific about the boy, except that his instructor would be more than qualified to deal with him. The chuunin had _assumed_ that someone had offered to take the boy on as an apprentice, but this didn't seem to be the case.

Apparently he was to be put on a team.

Frowning ever so slightly, he filed away his misgivings about this away for later, perhaps for a personal discussion with the hokage.

"Please take a seat, Naruto. Everyone else, please keep quiet and pay attention as I announce the teams."

* * *

An hour had passed, and their instructor had yet to arrive.

The rest of the class had long since been collected by their respective jounin, and still they were here. One by one that had come, until now they were alone. Iruka, glancing at the list showing their assignments, had smirked for a moment before even he left.

Fukaine Naruto, a genin who was a virtual unknown to all his peers and most of his teachers, was currently calmly sitting hidden away at the back of the classroom, watching a commotion with mild amusement.

Uchiha Sasuke, the heir to a clan with a legacy of excellence, was stoically ignoring everyone present, not even deigning to shed either of them the slightest glance. He merely sat with his chin resting atop his folded hands.

And lastly, Haruno Sakura was loudly and violently "punishing the pervert" in the middle of the room, not realizing that she had yet to connect a single blow against a shadow clone. Sure, she had hit it a few times, but those blows had been cushioned, avoided with the slightest of movements, or otherwise avoided.

Everyone seemed quite amused. Except for Sasuke, who was never much amused by anything.

But Sakura was now losing steam, and her blows became heavier and slower. Soon, she would lay off on trying to maim him and return to idolating her crush. So, with a quiet sigh from his vantage point, he allowed the clone to flash through a series of seals and 'transform' into a log, and allowed himself to 'appear' in a puff of smoke.

It was a leaf from Iruka's book, but the chuunin had greatly impressed the boy with his creative use of the basest of techniques. He would strive to emulate such ingenuity.

The pink haired girl stared at the block of wood for a moment of surprised annoyance, before she scanned the room for the source of her ire. When she saw him carelessly reclining, she stomped the floor angrily.

"Naruto!" She shouted at him. "Stupid coward! Get back here!"

Said boy would have replied, but the third member of their squad chose that moment to speak up.

"Stop being so noisy." He commanded coldly, sparing a the girl a quick glare.

Naruto watched in fascination as the girl completely ignored this order and further assumed that the simple act of issuing it warranted a sudden bout of adoration. She tried to sidle up to the Uchiha, who ignored her. She tried to start up a conversation (Naruto was annoyed to hear that one of the subjects she tried to use was his ineptitude) with the boy only to be answered with non-committal grunts.

It continued on in this vein until it became perfectly clear that Sasuke had no interest in her beyond silencing her. And when she finally gave up, there was nothing left to entertain anyone.

Fukaine Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. They were Team Seven, with a team dynamic that could only be called 'existent' if it was preceded closely by 'non' and enough general weirdness to fill a ward.

And now they were all ignoring each other until their instructor arrived. Their instructor who was by now over two hours late.

Naruto sighed loudly, not quite sure what he was supposed to do. He couldn't train, not when he was waiting for their jounin to arrive. Especially not in front of Sasuke, who insofar as Naruto knew would one day become a target. But sitting around doing nothing hardly seemed effective either.

Or entertaining, for that matter.

It soon became painfully obvious to the young blonde that as much he hated being looked down on, being ignored was ever so slightly worse. He'd never had much of a chance to find this out on previous occasions, as his many antics never gave the others much cause to disregard him completely. Even if it was ever so slightly, they all disliked him.

It worried him a bit that he had grown accustomed to that. But, there was a more pressing issue.

Boredom. How to deal with it...

A prank. But on who? The other two hardly warranted it for the moment, and he should be trying to do away with some of the stigma for himself he had built up with them. They could hardly be expected to function as a team if everyone actively disliked one other. So, a prank on their absent jounin instructor, who so rightly deserved something for being so late.

With a target set, he decided to choose the means of his entertainment. Something that nobody would expect.

His gaze strayed across the chalkboard, and stuck to the eraser. It then darted to the door, carefully closed at the moment. In his mind, it all came together.

A grin twitched onto his face, and he rose from his seat. This would be _perfect_.

The other two watched as he placed the eraser atop the door, a precarious placement that would topple it if moved.

"Idiot." Sasuke sneered, and folded his arms. "No jounin would fall for that."

"Y, yeah!" Their pink-haired comrade agreed, with a slight blush.

Naruto ignored them. Unless their instructor was already observing them, they would have no idea to expect this. Unprepared, of _course_ they'd fall victim.

He moved away from the door carefully, lest his movements shake the eraser.

"It will work." He asserted, still moving backwards carefully.

As if to prove him right, the door suddenly slid open, revealing a grey-haired, masked man in standard ninja uniform. As predicted, the eraser fell, and there was a second of rapt attention as it drifted through the air, spinning softly and then-

_Bop._

Naruto grinned at a job well done, while Sasuke glared in disbelief. Sakura had laughed for a moment, before realizing that nobody else was going to join her and quickly tried to silence herself.

But then Naruto recognized the man, his features came back to him in terrible remembrance. The _book_...

"_You._" Naruto muttered darkly, taken aback.

Hatake Kakashi, jounin of Konoha and feared assassin, surveyed his newest students with annoyance, and then calmly announced:

"My first impression is..." His voice tapered off as if in thought, or maybe just for dramatic effect. "I don't like you guys."

* * *

"First off, let's start off with some introductions." Hatake said with a bored voice and an expression that led his students to wonder if he was really paying any attention. "Names, likes and dislikes, dreams for the future, all the stuff."

They were sitting on the roof of the academy, where the only sound was the quiet whisper of the wind and whatever sounds of the village it carried. School was long since over, and almost all the students had left.

He gave his students a quick once over, then pointed at Naruto.

"You can start."

The blonde hesitated for a moment, but complied. Kakashi was, as of the moment, his commanding officer.

"I am Fukaine Naruto. I like ramen, training ninja skills and pranks. I dislike..." Here he stopped, and had to think for a moment. "... Being ignored. I aspire to become the greatest ninja in Konoha."

The jounin snorted.

"Aiming high, I see." He pointed next at Sasuke. "You next."

The stoic boy frowned, then pointed a finger back.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

Naruto shot the boy a dark glance, surprised at this show of rebellion. Did he know that this man was their _commander_? They _ had _ to obey him!

But Kakashi merely shrugged, and righted himself ever so slightly.

"Hatake Kakashi, jounin. I like many things... And I dislike other things..." He trailed off once more, before brightening up. "I have many hobbies."

Both Sakura and Sasuke simply stared at their instructor, each one incredulous at what they were hearing. Unbeknownst to either of them, their thoughts actually echoed each others remarkably well.

_All we learned is his name. What kind of lame teacher is he?!_

Naruto merely glared, but assumed the man was already teaching them. And the lesson was, never reveal more than you have to. He now felt foolish for having answered truthfully.

Eventually Sasuke recovered, and closed his eyes in acquiescence.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha. I like training, and I dislike many things. My dream is-" He paused, then corrected himself. "No, my _ambition_ is to kill a certain man and resurrect my clan."

Only Sakura reacted visibly at this by blushing slightly. Kakashi seemed to give this no more than a cursory shrug, before turning to the young kunoichi pointedly.

"And now the girl."

Sakura instantly felt the stare of the three others, and her blush brightened.

"I, I'm Haruno Sakura. I like..." Her voice quieted down as she looked over at her crush, a faint smile on her lips. "And my dream is..."

She trailed off a second time, this time with a thoughtful expression on her face. After a moment she blushed furiously and tried to hide her face.

"And I don't like Naruto." She finished bluntly, sparing the blonde a dark glare.

Said boy didn't spare her a glance, instead sneering internally.

Kakashi took this all in, then smiled brightly behind his mask. He knew the gesture would be wasted on them, so he allowed his eye to do most of the expression.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I suppose I should tell you that we'll start off for real tomorrow."

"Eh?" Sakura blustered in surprise. "So soon? What'll we be doing?"

The jounin allowed himself a small laugh, something that put his three students on nerve.

"We're going to do some survival training."

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, fav'd or put the story on alert last time! They made me ver' happy! Please, repeat! Let there be MOAR! I live on praise!

Also, I stand by my earlier claim that there will be no yaoi. I just like that scene in the original series. Made me laugh.

This chapter brought to you late by a deadly cocktail of.... VACATION, (No, last time wasn't. That was a general desire to be outdoors during the day when I could, and be too tired to write at night. Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. Don't believe them.) COLLEGE (Yes, unfortunately the halcyon days of avoiding further education are gone.) and WORK (Cuz money is good.)! Let's give 'em a round of applause! For those of you living in Portland, (Or had the misfortune of boozing it up in Seattle one particular night) you may have had the unwitting/willing honor of meeting me! Whether or not I then proceeded to smack-talk in a drunken stupor is a mystery I don't care to have answered. (Remember children: Smack-talk gets you smacked. Obvious, really.)

By the way, there's something that's been bothering me lately. If anyone cares to enlighten me on the matter, I'd greatly appreciate it: In the manga, (can't remember if the anime clarified this or not,) Naruto is said to have only one last chance to pass the exam, having failed twice before. If that's the case, wouldn't Naruto then be older than the rest of the genin 9? By a whole two years? It's been gnawing at me for a while. As I said, any enlightenment would be much appreciated.

And now I obsessively reread this chapter looking for anything that I missed the first ninety times I looked through it while still safely un-uploaded to the interwebs.

Hooray!


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter VII**

Haruno Sakura peered in curiosity at the sleeping boy, his body curled up into a fetal position at the base of one of the massive trees of Konoha. The first rays of daylight were creeping over the tree line, a lazy dawn to start their first day as a team. Birds chirped and cawed as they stirred and greeted the new day with a vigor the boy obviously lacked at this moment. The small clearing was the very picture of peaceful rest, something that was sure to change radically as the day drew on. For now though, the only sound of any importance that Sakura could register was her own breathing.

She'd thought to come early to the training ground and make last minute preparations, maybe warm up a bit with some light training, but had been surprised to find that someone was already there. More specifically, the 'deadweight' of the team. What he was doing here she couldn't imagine. Insofar as she knew, he was a child who had managed to fail the genin exam. Why he was even allowed to be here was a mystery to her.

Why had he been allowed to pass even with a failed exam? Even Iruka had seemed puzzled by the matter, almost stumbling upon seeing the boy and reading off his team placement. Obviously something of great import had happened the night before, and somehow Naruto had been involved.

But she pushed such speculation away. If she really wanted to know, she could ask the boy about it later. It would likely prove to be something trivial. As likely as not he'd just begged for a second chance.

The only thing different from normal about the boy was a general disheveled appearance, something she didn't note. She'd never paid the boy enough attention to learn how meticulous he was about his appearance. But even if she had, this could easily be explained away from his unusual choice of sleeping areas.

However, instead of continuing her train of thought she reached out a hand to shake the boy awake.

Even if he was useless, she could at least use him as a sparring partner.

But as her hand neared him, his eyes snapped open and his hand ripped out from behind his legs and latched onto her arm before it could get any closer. She was so startled that she tried to pull away, but lost her footing and instead falling on her rump.

But her surprise soon changed to indignity, and she let this be known. In a very vocal manner.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" She shouted, struggling to free herself from the boy's surprisingly strong grip.

Naruto blinked a few times as he woke up fully, his mind still fuzzed up. His eyes flickered around wildly in slight confusion, before they settled on Sakura and his grip relaxed.

"Sakura." He glanced upward, noting the position of the sun above the horizon. "You are early."

She glared at him as she yanked her arm away, rubbing life into where the boy's grip had been. She was still angry, obviously, but she noted that he didn't seem at all bothered or put out at this. It was hard to maintain anger or annoyance against someone who was prepared to not care about it in any way.

"Yeah," She agreed, somewhat begrudgingly. "I wanted to get some last-minute training in."

The boy nodded at this, a thoughtful frown on his face as he rose to his feet. He dusted himself off as he did so, before straightening himself up and leveling the girl a bored look.

"Then do so. I will find a new spot to rest." He informed her, and turned to leave.

"W, wait!" Sakura shouted at him, taken aback. Dismissed so casually, by Naruto? True, they didn't know each other well, but she'd expected at least some kind of kinship now that they were on the same team.

The blonde stopped, and then turned with a small sigh. Expressionless as his face was, a note of impatience seemed to get through.

"Yes?"

Sakura quickly got to her feet and tried to look as friendly as possible. She didn't seem to remember her previous failure with this tactic the day before, and the disastrous effects that had followed.

"Would you like to spar with me?" She asked.

She'd seen his previous fights against the other students, and knew that he wasn't an impressive fighter. He'd never won a single fight against anyone in all of his years as an academy student. She didn't expect much of a fight from him, nothing that would challenge her anyway.

The boy's mouth quirked upward into what could be called a smile, but as quickly as it appeared it changed into a frown. He seemed to be mulling the idea over in his mind. After a moment, he answered.

"No. We should conserve the strength we have now. A fight with a jounin will not be an easy one."

Sakura snorted, and folded her arms imperiously.

"Are you kidding? Did you see that joke of a man yesterday? He's probably a jounin by mistake, or something. He even fell for your little prank!" She retorted disdainfully. "We don't have to worry about him!"

But Naruto wasn't listening, he was already leaving.

Sakura stared at the retreating back, feeling anger well up with every step. Her hands balled up and her lips contorted into an angry scowl.

"Fine!" She shouted, waving a fist at the boy. "I'll train by myself!"

The boy gave no sign of having heard her at all, instead retreating further into the forest. As the shadows of the canopy swallowed him, Sakura felt somewhat impotent in her anger.

"And you'd better not slow me or Sasuke down!" She added for good measure, as if that would somehow change the boy's mind on the matter.

**

* * *

**

Once alone in the forest, Naruto allowed himself to relax.

He didn't like the idea of Sakura having snuck up on so easily, even if he had been sleeping at the time. Obviously the exhaustion from his preparations had taken more of a toll on him than he'd thought.

Unlike Haruno Sakura, who had thought to devote only that morning to their oncoming ordeal, Naruto had been far more realistic in his assessment of the danger Hatake Kakashi presented. Anyone bearing the jounin title was not to be trifled with, and could only be defeated with trickery and, preferably, surprise.

Naruto had stayed up all night preparing for today. He was unfamiliar with the lay of the land, so he'd scouted it out thoroughly. He spent hours perfecting his new shadow clone technique. He'd fought against himself until he was sure that his combat capabilities were as sharp as he could get them in so short a time.

Even so, he knew that it would be uphill battle.

The thought made his hands tremble, but not in fear. He would fight with every fiber of his body and every ounce of cunning he possessed. No, Naruto didn't fear what was to come, though he should have.

He was looking forward to it.

With a faint grin on his lips, he sat down to rest. He would need as much energy as he could get, after all.

**

* * *

**

It was all well and good for Naruto to be looking forward to the jounin's test, but when his fellow genin had assembled they'd sought him out and woken him once more. Thinking that the test would begin soon, he'd been inclined to stay awake. They waited in the clearing anxiously for their instructor to arrive, each one worried as to what might come.

As it turned out, however, they'd have been better served by going out to get breakfast, however, as their jounin instructor was just as late that morning as he had been the day before.

The man arrived almost an hour after the time he had specified only to be shouted out for this. The excuse he offered up in placation hadn't worked at all, either.

After a tirade from Sakura, accompanied at odd intervals from either Sasuke or Naruto, the members of Team 7 settled down to listen.

"This test is simple enough. By the end of the day, you have to get these bells from me in order to pass." Kakashi explained smugly. "Anyone who has one passes, and those who don't will fail and be sent back to the academy."

He held up a pair of bells as if to punctuate this, his face never once showing anything other than a general happiness.

Three heads echoed a single thought, but only one wasn't sweating at the prospect.

"B, but there's only two bells!" Sakura protested, her eyes widened slightly.

At this Kakashi positively lit up. Sakura watched this with horrified fascination.

_This man is supposed to be teaching us?! He wants us to fail!_

"I know!" He chirped, lowering the bells to his waist where he tied them to his belt. "This test has a guaranteed success rate of only 66%, which means at least one of you goes back to the academy!"

Nobody had anything to say to this, and instead they listened with rapt attention as the man continued on.

"But on top of that, I've brought with me a great big bento box!" He announced happily, pointing behind them.

Lo and behold, resting atop a stump that Fukaine Naruto would have sworn had not been there all the time he'd been there, was a box filled with various foodstuffs. Each of the children felt their stomachs growl involuntarily, which elicited a small blush on all three.

"The two who pass will get to eat it, while the one who fails gets tied up and has to watch."

Instantly three pairs of eyes were once again riveted on him, this time with varying degrees of shock, anger and resentment.

Kakashi wasn't a sadistic man, but it was hard not to find the situation oddly pleasing.

"For this reason, you have to come at me with everything you have. Killing intent, kunai, ninjutsu, anything."

Naruto grinned fiercely, happy to be proven right. His hand flashed down to his side and he sprang into action, intent on seizing the prize even if the jounin wasn't ready. In fact, especially so.

He got all of two steps before he saw Kakashi burst in puff of smoke and felt his hand be yanked violently up and backwards, twisted so that the kunai's point was resting closely to the boy's neck. He instantly froze, shocked that he had so soundly been thwarted even by someone whom he had _thought_ was not expecting this.

He felt the man lean in next to his ear, the blade point digging in ever so slightly with this motion.

"A nice effort, but I didn't say we could start yet, did I?" He whispered, then leaned out suddenly.

He let go of the boy in the same motion, using his free hand to push the boy to the ground as he did this. Naruto collapsed into a roll as the ground came near and came back up with a snarl on his face.

"Wait until I give the word, and _then_ we can start." He chirped, and then made a show of looking upwards.

"Your survival training exam starts _now_!"

**

* * *

**

Both Sakura and Sasuke moved into the forest as fast as they could, each one a blur of motion. Naruto, seeing that none of them would take up where he had fallen so quickly, took it upon himself to stay there.

He was already in close proximity to the man, after all. The other two, while he respected their decision, hadn't thought their course of action out too well.

Obviously, they planned on observing their enemy and waiting for the opportune moment. A point where Kakashi let his guard down, or was preoccupied, or otherwise distracted. They didn't consider that observing from such a distance for weakness did not actually grant much of an advantage, as the distance from which they were observing would have to be traversed in order to attack. They would have to lure their enemy closer if they wanted to retain any kind of surprise, but doing that was likely to alert Kakashi to their presence.

Instead, Naruto opted to fight him head on, this time with a bit more caution.

"Oh?" The jounin said, amusement riding his voice. "Not run away yet, have you? Not learned your lesson?"

Fukaine Naruto grinned fiercely as he tucked his kunai away.

"Not yet, no." He answered, and began edging forward slowly. "You know what I did to get here."

Hatake Kakashi's expression didn't change for a second, his stance kept loose and relaxed as he watched the boy intently.

"Yes. Everyone who should know does, by now." He commented idly, and reached inside pocket. "But don't think that that makes you special." The orange book was pulled free, and the man flipped it open seemingly at random. "I bet that I can beat you while reading."

Naruto's blood boiled at being so casually dismissed on top of his earlier failure, and it wasn't long before it took control of him.

"I'll take that wager!" He shouted in fury, and flashed through a sequence of hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Clones erupted into existence all around him, each one swiftly charging forward with a single purpose. There were no questions, no words amongst them. They were of one mind, _his_ mind. The only sound they made was their footfall as they sprang into action.

Kakashi didn't even spare the boy or his clones a glance. As the first approached he somehow managed to duck under a flying kick and counterattack with an idle toss of a shuriken.

The first was quickly followed by the rest of the swarm, each and every one of which were met with varying shades of utter failures.

Naruto felt his mind overflow with the memories of the fallen clones, each one marking yet another failure.

As the jounin became obscured by all the clones and the mist of their forceful dispersion felt himself grow desperate. The clones couldn't manage on their own, obviously. They were entirely too easily dispatched.

With a determined grin, he flashed through the short series of seals that would create one of the basest of ninja skills, a simple clone technique.

It was time try his brainchild out in live combat.

As the last seal was made a small trickle of smoke erupted around him. He lifted an arm and flexed it experimentally, inspecting everything about it.

It was perfect.

With a smile, Naruto leaped into the fray.

**

* * *

**

Hatake Kakashi had been a bit surprised to see the boy called Fukaine Naruto use a jounin-level technique so casually and to such a degree, especially considering the amount of chakra it would have taken. No child of Naruto's age should have been in possession of such large quantities of the stuff. But then again, Naruto was hardly normal.

The jounin had only been told that Naruto was a suspected agent of Root, and as such should at the very least be considered a trainee of ANBU.

He didn't know what to expect when the clones attacked en masse, but was slightly disappointed when they showed little taijutsu aptitude. They showed skill, yes, but it was the skill of solitary practice. The boy had never fought against someone _better_ than he was, not for a long time. He hadn't had anyone to learn from.

But when the clones suddenly peeled off suddenly, he became a bit wary. _Something_ was going down, and the boy had a record (however short) of lethal surprise.

The boy charged in alone as each of the clones continued to move back, each and every one of them watching intently. They would be watching for the perfect moment to strike, Kakashi knew.

But as the boy drew close Kakashi noticed something very odd about the boy. Any part of him that was in motion seemed to blur slightly, more than would be expected from the speed of his movements.

He idly pushed a hard right-handed punch away as the boy lashed out, studying the arm as it passed. There was the blur again, but now the boy was moving _faster_.

A second punch, left this time, quickly followed the first, faster than Kakashi would have thought possible for the boy to manage. This time the jounin simply moved out of the way, noting once more the strange blur.

When a _third_ punch came, Kakashi decided that something was up and attempted to grab onto the limb as it passed by.

Only to have his hand pass effortlessly through, unobstructed by anything mundane. Instead, _something_ struck him solidly in his side.

The blow wasn't enough to cause him serious damage, and wasn't nearly precise enough to debilitate him more than a slight bruise, but the surprise of it caused his reflexes to kick and retaliate, lashing out with a sweep-kick that took the boy's legs out from under him followed by an uppercut that sent the boy sailing away.

'_What the hell _was_ that?'_ The jounin caught himself thinking, even as he studied the boy closely.

Most newly graduated academy students would have been floored by what he had done, but Naruto seemed only lightly fazed and quickly recovered, albeit a little wobbly on his feet.

As the boy momentarily struggled for balance, Kakashi saw what had deceived him.

Unless the boy was naturally gifted with multiple sets of arms that he somehow managed to keep hidden at all times, he was using a clone technique that simply _overlapped_ him.

It was a very unusual use of the technique, but as demonstrated earlier was enough to trick even a jounin at first. But now that he knew what to look for...

"I see," He said authoritatively. "It seems I'll have to pay extra attention to you for now."

Naruto seemed to light up at this, and did something that made Kakashi pause for a moment.

He allowed his clones' arms to fan out, four on each side, and for a moment Kakashi thought the boy was trying to mimic one of the strange idols of a foreign deity. But soon the arms swayed, and Kakashi realized all too clearly the purpose of this gesture. There would be no telling which arm was real at this distance, so the jounin would simply have to wait for the boy to approach for a second assault.

And once he _did_ find the real ones, a simple shuffle of arms and they would once more be hidden.

"I call this the Hidden Spider Hands style." Naruto said smugly. "I've not yet used it on an enemy, but now that I know it works..."

With that said the boy leaped forward, this time even faster than before. Faster than any genin had a right to be (unless they were trained by Gai). Dust and leaves were thrown upwards in plumes as the boy crossed the space between them with ease.

Kakashi felt only a rush of air as he dodged reflexively, and moved backwards quickly to try and put some space between he and the boy. Almost as fast as the first a second, third and fourth followed.

There was no telling what was real and what wasn't, not the way the boy moved. The style was _better_ than simple genjutsu, as he could have dispelled that with a simple Release. But this...

Kakashi frowned as he tried to bat a hand away, but once again met no resistance. His counterattack left him open once again, and Naruto was _quick_.

This time, the blow that came was much stronger. Kakshi felt himself thrown backwards from a solid punch to his stomach, slightly winded. But with his years of training he recovered easily, and even managed to dodge a follow-up attack from the boy, admiring the whistle of speed as the boy's fist swung above him. Which was lucky, really. If he hadn't heard the boy coming he'd likely have had to resort to more drastic-

Kakashi's eyes suddenly widened in comprehension and behind his mask a grin of evil delight worked its way up. The key was sound.

The next blow he let 'strike' him fully, along with the second. With a snarl, the boy slashed out with a third.

But this time Kakashi snagged the boy's wrist and spun, swinging the boy quickly around him and down to the ground. The blonde let out a satisfying 'oomph' as he smashed into the ground and Kakashi drove a knee into his back to restrain him.

"It's a good trick," The silver-haired elder complimented happily. "But I'm a jounin, and we learn quickly. Now it's time for payback!"

With that said Kakashi leapt backwards, his hands flashing through hand seals in a blur of speed, finally ending with his hands clasped together with only his index and middle fingers pointing outwards.

Naruto was only starting to rise when Kakashi struck a blow that would never be forgotten.

"Hidden Leaf Secret Finger Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!"

**

* * *

**

Both Sakura and Sasuke watched the boy fly off into the forest, each one with a horrified look on their faces.

'_To be defeated by a super powered butt-prod…"_ The Uchiha thought with a wry smile. _"Disgraceful."_

All around Kakashi the clones vanished instantly, each one shrouding the area with smoke.

Uchiha Sasuke saw his chance then, and attacked.

**

* * *

**

Fukaine Naruto was still reeling from agony when he eventually met the top of his arc and began his downward descent, which was a small miracle. If not, he would have been terrifyingly aware of what was next about to happen. As it was, he only realized when he saw the trees rush up to greet him.

_Crack!_ "Agh-"_ Smash!_ "Gah!" _Crunch!_ "Sto-" _Whoomph!_ "Ggh..."

The last came out as a weak groan when he at last hit the ground, the others as he broke his way through the canopy on his way down.

Once down he laid very still, pain coursing through every nerve of his body to inform him that he was thoroughly beaten for the moment. He let his body recuperate a bit before forcing himself to his knees, his head still swimming with pain and a nausea.

He rose to his feet unsteadily, fighting down the urge to release what little remained in his stomach. With a hand on the ground to steady himself, the boy staggered away determinedly.

"Right," He muttered darkly, wobbling slightly. "Round two."

**

* * *

**

Hatake Kakashi easily Displaced himself away from a hail of shuriken and then countered the young Uchiha's subsequent charge with an idle kick, sending the boy away in a sprawling wreck.

Sasuke was back on his feet in a matter of moments however, this time with an angry glare. He threw himself forward in a hasty leap that carried him back into melee range, showering the jounin with a variety of kunai and shuriken as he did.

How the failure had managed to go toe to toe against the man even if only for a short time was a mystery to the Uchiha. If _he_ could do it, then obviously Sasuke should as well. Though how the blonde had managed to move so fast, or _whatever_ it was he had done to himself was still confusing him, he was determined to do better.

So it was with great annoyance when he watched the silver-haired man easily pluck a kunai from the swarm and use it to deflect the others, then look at him expectantly.

Uchiha Sasuke landed in a crouch and followed through with an upward thrust of a punch, something that was easily evaded by the man. With a snarl and a silent curse the boy tried to get a kick in, but this was once again countered. His leg was caught as it passed over the jounin's head, and Sasuke felt only a moment of vertigo as he was swung and flung away like a doll.

But Sasuke twisted in mid-air, his hands flashing through a sequence of seals: Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger. Feeling his chakra writhe inside of him, the boy inhaled deeply for what was to come.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Sasuke roared, and spewed forth a raging inferno.

He could feel the glow of heat even as he sailed backwards, and surveyed the carnage he wrought with grim satisfaction. He landed lightly, still staring at the flames. When they parted enough to look beyond, he noted with a grin that there was nothing there.

"Now you've seen the power of an Uchiha."

"Indeed." The reply came form _somewhere_, but as Sasuke frantically searched his surroundings and came up nothing, panic set in. "But the ones that stand up, are the ones that get knocked down!"

Sasuke felt something latch onto his leg, and in his alarm he tried to leap away. This accomplished little more than a stumble, however.

"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

The Uchiha felt himself sinking into the earth, and in a split second he saw Kakashi rise. The rage of defeat began to sink in, but was quickly overridden by a second surprise.

From the gloom of the forest an orange streak shot out and _grabbed_ him, tearing him free of the earth in a violent explosion of earth. Sasuke wasn't the only one surprised, it seemed, as he could hear Hatake Kakashi curse silently behind him as he was carried away, back into the forest.

The scenery passed by in a blur as Sasuke was bodily hauled off, his head still wondering what exactly had happened.

"Sasuke!" Someone called out from up ahead, worry in their voice.

At the sound they suddenly slowed down, and the Uchiha found himself rudely deposited on the ground.

Instantly Sasuke was back on his feet and looking for his 'savior', only to find _Naruto_ of all people staring down at him. Not with a smugness or pity, but his usual lack of _anything_.

It annoyed the boy that Naruto considered this to be of so little import.

"Here, Sakura." The boy answered, though with a much softer voice. "Be as silent as possible, we do not wish to be discovered yet."

The girl was quickly at his side, checking him over for wounds of any kinds. Or trying to cop a feel, though probably both. With an annoyed grimace, he pushed the girl away.

"I didn't need your help!" He snarled out, glaring up at the blonde.

Who simply shrugged, and allowed himself to drop down to the ground.

"I don't care." He announced. "I am here to procure a bell, but I failed on my own."

The Uchiha simply hmphed in return, folding his arms.

"I would suggest that we work together." The boy continued, looking at both Sakura and Sasuke, but more pointedly at Sasuke. "Our combined efforts would surely overcome."

"There are only two bells, idiot!" Sakura hissed out, picking up on the Uchiha's hostility. "Why should one of us help _you_ pass?"

Fukaine Naruto merely glared at her, and for some reason the girl was silenced. There was something behind the annoyance he showed, something lethal.

"Why should I help _you_ pass, under those circumstances? If we are all selfish, we will all fail. Discussing who should receive the bells now is moot, as we do not have them yet."

Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but Sasuke spoke first.

"A temporary alliance, then. Until we have the bells."

"Yes..." Naruto focused on Sasuke once more, trying to get some kind of meaning through to him. "Until we have the bells."

Sasuke didn't like the thought of working with the blonde, but he had to admit that there was certainly something very strange about him. For years, he'd been the worst of the class. And now, against a jounin, he'd managed to get some blows in.

He didn't let himself think that he might have been at the mercy of Kakashi now if not for him.

The black haired genin gave a reluctant nod, and rose. Seeing that Sasuke had agreed, Sakura was quick to follow his example.

"Then we are agreed." He announced, and grinned. "I have plan."

Sasuke glared at the boy, more for the presumptuous way in which he assumed they would go along with it. But just in case, he would listen.

"What is it, then?" He demanded.

Naruto smiled darkly, conveying the one emotion he had fully mastered in his five years of freedom: The thrill of mischief.

"I have made preparations." He said simply, and pointed away to the south. "There is a small creek in that direction. If we can lure him there, we might have a chance."

"What preparations?" Saukra asked, slightly confused.

"I have been there all night, and I have rigged the area extensively with various traps. Be very careful once you arrive." Naruto explained patiently. "You saw me this morning: After my labor, I decided to get as much rest as I could."

"What?" The girl hissed in reply, her arms flailing for a moment. "Why didn't you lure him there in the first place?!"

"He would have suspected something if I tried to flee there, and I could not be sure that either of you would not try to ambush him on the way. Will we lure him there?"

Sakura simply looked at Sasuke questioningly, and when he nodded she once again followed his example. Naruto nodded as well, his grin slowly fading.

"Then we should move. Kakashi is undoubtedly looking for us. Sakura, Sasuke, go on ahead. I will follow shortly."

The pink-haired genin looked at the boy for a moment in open distrust, but obeyed. Sasuke moved to do the same, but was stopped when Naruto grabbed his shoulder.

He glared at the boy, who sidled close.

"What?" The Uchiha hissed, already annoyed enough for one day.

Naruto drew close, and brought his mouth to Sasuke's ear for a whisper.

"If we are all selfish, we all fail." He repeated quickly. "If only _two_ of us are, though..."

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Aaaand that's it for now! Whew, was getting kinda long.

I must confess I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while now. I put a lot of thought into how this Naruto would react to things, and I absolutely loved his plans and general sneakiness. Call me weird, but nothing makes me cackle quite like someone kicking ass while also being an ass. I put a lot of thought into Naruto's skills and his application of them, if only to stand out a bit by not pulling a random (read: bullshit) super-secret-ninja-fighting-style-fu-technique out of my butt. Because that would have been awkward. And probably painful.

Because of that, I worked hard to get this one up as quickly as possible. The fights were a pain, but I soldiered through! It prolly shows, though.

I feel obliged to warn everyone following the fic of this: When Dragon Age is released, I may or may not drop off the earth until I've successfully pummeled it into the ground and wept great big manly tears (think Gai/Lee, but with only one person and sans the incredible weirdness) and been blinded by its radiant aura of awesome. Or, alternatively, shed great big manly tears for the hopes and dreams that were crushed when the game didn't stand up to my recently lowered standards and its general UNYOUTHFULNESS!

Also, I call shenanigans on the anonymous reviewer "6" for putting a compliment in his flame! **You're doing it wrong!** If you're going to insult someone, at least try to crush their spirit! Saying that something is well-written while at the same time insulting the story (and me, for some reason) defeats the whole purpose!

Points for effort, though. With time and practice, you may one day succeed where thousands of other people already have. With ease.

Thank you and good night, gentle folk.


	8. Chapter 8

**WARNING: This chapter is the end of the story, and it ends BADLY. Why, you ask? You'll see. You'll **_**all**_** see! MUWAHAHA!**

**Chapter VIII**

Sasuke felt disgusted with himself for agreeing to what Naruto had suggested, but it had made sense. It still made sense, even now.

Sakura was weak. He hadn't devoted much time to studying her, but he _had_ occasionally seen her spar against the other academy students. She'd been very unimpressive. Then again, so had Naruto, but the Uchiha refused to believe that the girl had _also_ been keeping her abilities hidden. And even if she had, Naruto's stark indifference was somewhat preferable to ardent fandom Sakura cultivated.

It was a cruel thing to do, to trick the girl into helping them while at the same time killing whatever chance she had at passing. Had Naruto always been so cold, but never showed it? Or was there simply some bad blood between he and Sakura that he wasn't privy to? Regardless, Sasuke found himself leery of Naruto. Anybody who could so casually betray someone _on their own team_ was not to be trusted very far...

Naruto was waiting for them at the ambush site, waiting to unleash his traps on Kakashi. And Sakura. He didn't know what to expect, but Naruto had assured them both that what he had prepared would probably do the trick. Sakura hadn't thought to question how they were supposed to evade the traps, and Sasuke knew _exactly_ how _he_ was going to.

He wasn't even going to approach them. Sakura would lure the jounin in, and be trapped along with him.

But Sasuke was not about to question such tactics, not now. Useless as she might be, it was better that she was working with them than against them. Or Naruto, rather.

Still, there was something intrinsically dirty about what Naruto had suggested.

Leading the way for both of them, blissfully unaware of their dark dealings, Haruno Sakura silently thanked whatever fluke or chance of fate had seen fit to deliver this opportunity. She was working with _Sasuke_! And when he realized that she was a much better choice than Naruto, they would both band against the boy. Love would triumph!

She burst into the clearing from a tree bough, scanning the area for her quarry. Behind her, she could hear Sasuke follow suit.

The jounin seemed somewhat surprised to see them both attacking in such a manner. He quickly recovered, and waited for them to approach.

Sasuke pushed all doubts aside as he readied himself. This was but one small step on his path to vengeance, and he had long ago decided that he would do anything and everything that was necessary.

* * *

Naruto was a patient boy. He was used to waiting. In the middle of what he liked to think of as his own personal playground of nastiness, he was prepared to wait until the light of day died below the horizon and the stars began to shine.

Or until he got hungry enough to leave. He felt it necessary to mentally add this when his belly rumbled once more, disturbing the calming silence he'd been enjoying for the last few minutes.

He ignored it, and instead focused on his task of rechecking the traps he'd laid.

Most of the scrolls he'd laid were still active, just waiting for someone to get close enough. A few had died, the chakra he'd infused into them wearing down or sprung when some forest creature made the mistake of trying to get past them.

It had been a small comfort to see their small forms mummified in paper. Some he'd freed, as they might alert Kakashi to the nature of this place, but others...

Others had long ago been crushed to death. Those he'd simply hidden away.

The other traps were more mundane in nature. Snares and tripwires and passive genjutsu scrolls and even a few explosive scrolls were all primed and ready to detonate. It was his own personal web, and he was confident it would snare his enemy. Maybe even maim him, if fate was truly cruel today. Naruto doubted it, though.

Never once did he stop to consider Sakura's spot in the whole mess. She was a triviality, a nuisance. She didn't have a chance to pass, and she had to be a fool to believe that Sasuke would choose her over him. _His_ value to a team had been demonstrated, _his_ skill was not in doubt. Not much, anyway.

He settled down to wait once more, listening intently to the sounds of the forest. It was a glorious quiet, one that he rarely had a chance to savor in the village. There was always _some_ kind of noise, whether it was the people or businesses when out on the street or the few other residents in his apartment block. There was no silence to be had in Konoha.

There was rarely a moment that could be spared from his surveillance of Uchiha Sasuke, but what little he had had been devoted to training. His chakra control, strength and speed were all above normal for his age, but they had not availed him against Kakashi. Truly, a mere genin was a far cry to a jounin.

But he was confident that fighting _here_ would at least give him _some_ kind of advantage. There was no possible way that Kakashi could-

The silence was broken, and Naruto was alert. Further speculation was useless, action was needed now.

Sakura was shouting, shrilly and with urgency. From this distance he couldn't make out what she was saying, but he hardly considered it relevant. Very little of anything she said ever was. Instead, he focused on the direction from which it was coming from.

He took off in the opposite direction of the sound, taking care to make little noise himself. He didn't want to be seen yet, and as much as he had grown to like his flamboyant attire it wouldn't help him here. He would have to remember to buy something else for missions.

Sasuke would be waiting on the outskirts, watching for a moment to strike if Kakashi tried to get away. It wasn't likely, but they all had to do everything they could to make things easier.

"He's hee~re!" The shouting was even louder now, closer. "Here! He-"

Sakura's shouting was suddenly cut off.

Naruto sprang into action, knowing that now was the time to attack. Either she had sprung a trap, or Kakashi had caught up with her. Either way, there was a chance the jounin was preoccupied with something.

The trees blurred by as his chakra-laced muscles threw him forward, all while he scanned his surroundings furiously for any sign of the jounin.

"Naruto! _What the hell is this_?"

The sudden scream took him by surprise, coming as it did so close to him. He allowed himself to skid to a halt, his hands going to his pouches as he did. Eyes narrowed and armed with a pair of kunai, Naruto decided to search his surroundings for Sakura.

He didn't understand it. This area hadn't been outfitted with anything more dangerous than a passive genjutsu. He'd carved the seals into a series of trees, allowing their natural chakra output to power them as they covered the area in illusion. It was a _weak_ illusion, to boot. Merely lines of flickering lights or shadows, making a casual observer believe there was a tripwire there.

But he'd _heard_ Sakura here, of that he was certain.

He prowled through the area, a puzzled frown on his face as his search turned up nothing. There was only a small animal path through the area, and a whole lot of trees.

Naruto furrowed his brows angrily.

"_Naruto! Get OVER here!_"

This time the voice came from a ways off. Naruto's head snapped in the direction of the sound, and his hands had twirled their blades nervously.

The voice was Sasuke's though.

How had the heir gotten past him, and why hadn't Naruto noticed him? Besides, he wasn't supposed to have gotten this far, the outskirts were a good distance away yet. Why would the boy risk-

He wouldn't. The realization struck Naruto suddenly, suddenly seeing a fatal flaw in his plan. Of course Kakashi would see through a trap like this, and would have done something to turn the tables right back on them.

And judging by his own disorientation, it seemed likely that the jounin had done something to turn the tables on them. More specifically, him.

'_Illusion!_' Naruto throught frantically, as he hastily dropped his kunai and made the handseal for a genjutsu cancellation.

"Release!" He growled, and watched in mild confusion as his surroundings seemed to blur, then shift.

The trees stayed where they were, but suddenly Naruto was up to his ankles in water. It was a strange sensation, to one moment be dry and warm, the next to be cold and wet. And for there to have been absolutely no changeover in the two contradicting states.

The subtle change in his surroundings made Naruto pause in shock for a moment, before he realized where he was.

_Outside_ the trapped area.

Naruto whirled around to see both Sakura and Sasuke fighting not far away, each one trying frantically to hold the jounin off while the other tried to get his attention. Noting the local scenery, he further narrowed down his location and what he could expect.

Naruto suddenly blanched when he did.

The _scrolls_!

"Get away from there!" Naruto shouted, with a bit of panic. "Get out _now_!"

While he was sure that Kakashi could have modified his genjutsu against him with minor effort, the scrolls couldn't even be _touched_ by anybody but him without being activated.

Naruto charged into the fray, shouting at his teammates. He tried frantically to get there as fast as he could, but even as he did he could see Sasuke flashing through a series of hand seals.

His eyes wide with horror at what was to come, Naruto dug into his pockets for what was to come.

* * *

"No! Don't do it!"

Uchiha Sasuke heard the blonde shriek out the warning but ignored it. First the boy went right _past_ them, then he ignored them completely. Obviously Kakashi had already ensnared the boy in genjutsu, before the battle had even started.

'_I was a fool to believe in him._' The Uchiha growled internally, a small sneer forming on his features. He continued to form the seals, wondering briefly if Sakura knew what he intended. She probably did, as she'd likely seen his earlier fight with the jounin. But even if she didn't...

Well, it certainly was a good way to find out if she was worth anything as a ninja.

He inhaled deeply, savoring the faint feeling of pride that welled inside him whenever he performed this technique.

The fires hadn't even ignited when everything went horribly wrong.

It was as if the trunks of the trees around him and suddenly exploded, but the lack of wooden shrapnel soon told him otherwise. But the way the trees simply _erupted_ had startled him enough to completely botch the flow of chakra, but by then the damage had already been done.

A trio of scrolls, painted on one side to closely resemble the trees they'd been wrapped against, tore through the air with a faint nimbus of pale blue at both ends and an angry hiss.

It was enough to stop Kakashi and Sakura where they stood, watching is fascination as the scrolls snaked through the air towards the young Uchiha, both somewhat perplexed as to what was happening.

They were saved from further speculation, however, as kunai flew out and ripped through the scrolls, which continued hurtling through the air. They latched onto the Uchiha which an audible slap.

They began slowly crawling across his body, their loose ends flapping loosely as they moved.

Sasuke was the first to recover, if only because the strange tickle of the scrolls as they moved across him quickly annoyed him.

"What the hell are _these_?" He demanded loudly, shooting the blonde a glare.

But nobody paid attention, and instead of answering Naruto barreled into the clearing, his arms already reaching to unleash a second volley of kunai. Kakashi had time enough to leap backwards as the blades slashed out towards him, buying the others enough time to sufficiently recover.

"Push him further in!" Naruto shouted, his body blurring as he activated the Hidden Spider Hands. "We can stop him there!"

What little faith Sasuke had lost in the boy became moot as instinct took over, and the earlier sentiment he had earlier taken up returned.

_Anything to get to Itachi_. If that included helping the idiot, then so be it. He moved to back the blonde up, tearing the scrolls from his body as he did so. Annoyingly, the ends refused to be removed, and continued their slow navigation of his body.

Sakura obeyed by way of shuriken, throwing a volley at their instructor whenever the boys were forced back. The effort was easily countered by the jounin, but it did give the boys a little time to recover.

The going was hard, and the jounin didn't let the boys herd him deeper into the trapped area easily. The only reason he did in the first place was mostly to see what else Naruto had prepared, and how Sasuke and Sakura would handle fighting in a heavily trapped area.

The two boys didn't fight well together. Once he'd discovered the secret of Naruto's strange technique, all he really had to do to see through it was listen. And while Sasuke was very talented, he simply couldn't match the skill of a jounin. And together, they both got in the other's way instead of working with one another like teammates were supposed to. However, both boys were predisposed to fighting alone, so he couldn't blame them for that.

He never the less found it a bit strange that the two, coming from backgrounds that were only similar in that they had no parents, had nevertheless developed rather similar personalities. Both were horribly inept in all matters relating to social niceties, both were intensely focused on their ninja careers (though for different reasons, he knew), and both were very distrustful of others.

And both also had their strengths. Upright fighting, Sasuke was clearly the better. He had a better grasp of taijutsu and a wider array of combat skills. He was also likely to develop the Sharingan in the coming years, which would only add to his abilities. The boy was also in better physical shape than Naruto. From the reports Kakashi had read, combat was just about the only thing Sasuke trained in. Stealth, sealing, illusion, these were all things that the boy had glossed over in the academy training, and dismissed as unimportant to his goals. Hatake Kakashi, a legendary assassin known abroad for his wide repertoire, would have loved to have heard the boy's logic to _that_ train of thought.

But where Sasuke excelled in straight combat, Naruto compensated with pure, sinister cunning. Kakashi had seen what his would-be students had tried to lure him into, and was a bit appalled by what he had seen.

It wasn't often that a genin set up lethal traps against his own jounin instructor without orders, after all. And such an array! Some of the traps he'd seen were very uncommon, such as the Chakra Bind Scrolls that Sasuke had triggered. Almost exclusively for solo-operation, they were just as likely to harm an ally as an enemy. Kakashi was forced to wonder how the boy had managed to gather the funds to purchase some of the items he'd found, but after witnessing the whole of what the boy had set up he assumed the boy simply stole them. Which in itself was impressive, considering that he'd have stolen them from stores owned by men and women familiar with ninja techniques.

Two young shinobi with very different styles and goals coming together for the good of the 'mission'.

He was almost tempted to give them a pass here and now, based solely on their willingness to cooperate. And he would have, if he hadn't overheard what Naruto had suggested.

He'd known that the blonde didn't care much for the other academy students, but that he'd deliberately mislead and betray one of them to serve his own goals...

Well, it was a thought that made him very angry.

It wasn't a thought the previous genin sent to be trained by him had often come up with. Most wasted their strength against him alone, or if they did try to pair up it was only after much persuasion. But Naruto was the first to deceive the third member into working for him with no chance of passing.

It was the dark side of the lesson he was trying to teach, the exact opposite of the wished-for result.

Sasuke lunged past the blonde, starting a vicious offensive that forced the jounin back briefly before he caught the Uchiha in a counterattack that sent the boy sprawling. With a squawk of shock, Sakura emptied the last of her kunai against the man before moving to the raven-haired boy's side with a speed that Kakashi was surprised she possessed.

Naruto, seeing he was alone, frowned and drew himself back.

A hand dug into one of his pouches, his eyes never faltering for a moment as he stared down the jounin. For a moment the only sound to be heard was the groaning of Sasuke and fierce, worried administrations of Sakura. And, just on the edge of hearing, the soft rustlings as the strange boy searched his pocket for something.

Kakashi waited with honest curiosity, wondering what the boy had in mind.

His hand slashed out holding the end of a scroll, unrolling and unleash it in one smooth motion. He bit down hard on his free hand, the thumb, allowing a trickle of blood to flow forth. He then dragged his wounded finger across the parchment, staining the pristine black and white with a vibrant red.

The scroll glowed blue, and the blood shifted of its own accord into seals that Kakashi didn't quite recognize.

The boy flung the scroll at him, and the jounin noticed with slight disconcertion that the scroll was now hissing angrily.

_Another Chakra Bind Scroll__**.**_ The jounin thought with a frown, and with a casual toss of shuriken.

He was greatly surprised when the scroll simply bounced off them instead of the expected shredding. A glance was all he needed to see what was wrong, as Naruto had never released the other end of the scroll, instead mas

king his actions with a genjutsu. And while he held the scroll, he could channel chakra into his end, infusing the paper with it and making it more robust.

And now one end of the scroll latched hungrily onto his arm, and began its wandering path upwards.

Kakashi knew what would happen now. The scroll was incredibly attracted to chakra signatures foreign from the one that had first activated it, and once it latched on would continuously drain chakra from the victim to increase its own durability and increase its own draining abilities. As this happened, the ends of the scrolls would follow the flows of chakra, flows that inevitably led them on an encircling path of the torso. The longer they stayed on and active, the harder they would be to take off, and the tighter they'd become, until eventually crushing the victim.

And now it was on him, and the bastard boy had fused it with enough chakra to make it resist shuriken. He'd have to limit his chakra usage now, and if the smug smirk the genin wore was any indication Naruto knew it as well.

Naruto threw the other end quickly, his smirk widening into a full-blown smile of evil merriment as it smacked against his belly.

"Success." He stated, and threw himself forward. "We have him!"

He fell on Kakashi like a ton of bricks, what little finesse he'd previously had thrown to the winds. He had the jounin snared, and now he wanted him _broken_.

It was almost comical to see the silver-haired cyclops swat the boy away mid-leap, allowing only a small amount of internal chakra to enhance the movement. It would cause the scroll to do its work fast, but it was worth it to see the shocked look pass over the boy's face as he was once again thrown down.

Further away Sasuke was struggling to his feet, a determined grimace on his face and a dagger in his hands. He shrugged Sakura away roughly as he did, instead barking out an order.

"Help me."

And it must have been the way he said it, or perhaps something that had been forming in the girl's mind from before, but when she followed him into combat against Kakashi the jounin came to regret it.

It wasn't that she was particularly fast, nor was her technique refined to deadly keen, but that she hit _hard_. There should have been no way for the girl to wield such strength, but somehow she did.

_Probably using chakra-enhanced strength without even knowing it._ The jounin thought morosely, dodging away from that whistled just sort of his midriff. It was unfortunate that the girl didn't know how to use it consciously, but in a way it _very_ fortunate that he didn't have to deal with it just now. There would always be a later time to consider _that_.

Sasuke came in with a vicious flying kick as the jounin skittered away from the pink haired girls assault and would nearly have been caught by it had he not thrown himself backwards into a smooth black-flip.

And then, seemingly from nowhere, an orange mask swirled into existence. Behind it a man formed, wearing a long dark robe.

For a moment the only thing anyone could do was _stare_ at the intruder, wondering just what was going on.

"Err, can I help you?" Kakashi asked, shrugging off Naruto's scrolls with his awesome ninja skills. "I think you're a bit lost. You aren't supposed to appear until chapter-"

"Tobi wasn't supposed to appear in this story _at all_!" The man complained loudly. "But that can't be right, because _Tobi is a good boy!_"

"Tobi is retarded." Naruto deadpanned, his eyes narrowing. "Tobi should have used his apparently godlike skills to complete his plan before anyone had a chance to stop them. Tobi-"

Black flames erupted on Naruto's jumpsuit, and with an uncharacteristically terrified squawk the boy hastily tried to beat them off him, which served only to spread the fire to his hands.

"_Tobi is awesome, you socially retarded maladroit!"_ The masked man shouted.

"Oh my god!" Naruto screamed as the dark flames continued to consume him. "I've stopped, dropped and rolled! _Why won't it stop burning?_ _Why did you lie to me, educational cartoons? WHYYYY?"_

"No!" Hinata suddenly burst from the nearby foliage, her ecchi-stalker senses having been active all day. "This wasn't the kind of flaming Naruto I wanted!" She cried out.

"_I'm not gay for Sasuke!"_ Naruto shouted indignantly, still frantically rolling on the ground.

"What?" Hinata said in disbelief. "Noooo~!"

And with that the lavender haired girl vanished back into underbrush, where she was forgotten by plot completely.

"Well that was weird." Sasuke remarked.

"_I'm on fire, you jackass! Help me!_"

"Naw, I was gonna try and kill you anyway at the Valley of the End before you kick my ass and drag me back. And I don't like people who kick my ass."

"_Traitor!"_

"Yup."

"What about me?" Sakura demanded with a huff. "_I_ was going to get the shaft completely, only providing comedic relief for you!"

"_You only hit me, you heartless bi- err, girl!"_ Naruto was miraculously not dead yet, despite his body long since becoming a blazing inferno of impossible fire.

"Only because you're such a pervert!" The pink-haired girl roared, and finally put the boy out of his misery with a FARUKEN PAWNCH of anti-pervertedness.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Kakashi muttered. And then he perked up. "Hey, how about we go get some Dango, guys?"

"_Tobi is still here, you know!_"

"Bah, nobody cares. The titular character for the series is dead."

"b, b, but I'm the big-bad!" He protested. "I've totally been in the background the whole time!"

"So had Orochimaru, but I killed him off with a swiftness when a poll revealed people didn't like his character." Sasuke retorted.

"_Tobi does not like you comparing him to a dirty pedophile_!" The masked man said, and again the black flames appeared, this time on Sasuke. "Because Tobi is a good boy!"

"_Ahh!"_ The raven-haired boy exclaimed, flailin his arms wildly. And then a moment later he realized it didn't hurt. "Huh. That's weird. Actually, I kinda feel..."

Sakura drew in closer, wondering if perhaps the first emotion Sasuke felt would be intense love for her.

"I feel _fabulous_!" Sasuke cried out, and suddenly his walk was a peacock-ish strut while his dull clothes turned bright and floral. "Thank you, Tobi!"

"No problem, estranged descendant!" Tobi answered happily. "Go forth and kick ass! Or whatever you want to do with it."

"I will, forgotten forebear!"

And, before Sakra could complain at the injustice of what was transpiring, the moon suddenly turned into the Death-Star.

"That's no Death-Star! That's the Juubi! And the moon!" The man said, shedding his mask and revealing himself as Madara. "My dad totally made it!"

But it turns out that assumption was wrong, as a moment later the world was destroyed in a puff of old-timey special effects.

And nobody lived happily ever after.

The End

* * *

**AN**: Yes, I'm sorry to inform everyone the fic is out of limbo and has been cast down into the fires of hell. However, since I'd already gotten this far into the chapter, I thought it was a shame to waste it. Hence the batshit crazy ending to the story.

Why did I kill this story? Because I don't feel like wasting time on it any more. Nor do I feel like explaining, yet again, that this fic isn't a naru/hina. (Also, as a great big 'fuck you' to everyone who bitched at me for 'not warning' them about the 'pairing': Naruto was going to kill that spineless waste of space. Because paranoid people _always_ react well to being stalked. If I wanted to put goddam romance in this fic I'd have slapped the 'romance' tab on it, so in the future keep that in mind when you moan at people. Thank you for tolerating this tirade, we will now continue my explanation of why I finally applied the axe.) And, lastly, I'm just not interested in the Naruto manga enough to want to write fanfiction for it. Most of the new chapters leave me with an open sneer, which has only served to further sap my desire to continue this fic.

Any complaints will be summarily ignored, unless I feel compelled to shout at you.

If, for whatever reason, someone feels they want to continue the fic in my place, then by all means do so. Give a msg, and I'll hand over my notes and outlines.


End file.
